All They've Got
by Bring on the Boom
Summary: Bambietta Basterbine and Giselle Gewelle. A friendship torn asunder by their own failings as human beings. Now, in the aftermath of the war between the Wandenreich and the Gotei 13, the two walk different roads. One seeks vengeance, the other solitude. Yet their paths shall cross once more, and no one can say what fate for the two shall emerge victorious.
1. The Heart Seeking Comfort

**Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Shonen Jump.**

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**Author's note: This is, for all intents and purposes, a sister story to The Ballad of Bambietta Basterbine. Also, I cannot take credit for the title. That was suggested to me by XenotheWise135.**

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Stern Ritter E, Bambietta Basterbine, was unsure of just why Yhwach had assembled his incomplete army of Stern Ritter to his throne room but she was willing to wait for his majesty's explanation. However, it took a considerable amount of effort on the Quincy's part to keep her pent up emotions in check. To snap, to criticize the Wandenreich's emperor for interrupting her own time would be tantamount to suicide.

Then did Yhwach's commanding tone suddenly issue forth, catching the attention of Bambietta and the others who called the Wandenreich their family. "My beloved Quincy, today is a momentous occasion. Some of you have been by my side for a thousand years, your faith in me tested as I recovered my strength. Others are new to our fold as I have been gathering our forces for the express purpose of bringing an end to the age of the shinigami. Now we are one step closer to our goal. For today I bring into our ranks Stern Ritter Z."

"Z?" Candice Catnipp giggled as she moved up beside Bambietta. "What, we're going to have to work with the Zookeeper now?"

"Personally I'd be all for the Zigzag!" Meninas McAllon offered up, her voice as peppy as usual. "No one would be able to hit them from a distance on the field of battle! No one!"

Liltotto Lamperd was the next to bring forth an opinion, soft spoken as ever. "I'd personally be cool with the Zebra. I don't know what the power would be but those are the best animals, you know? They probably taste great."

"As your leader I advise you all to shut up," Bambietta said under her breath. "For your own good of course."

"Is their dissent among the ranks?" Bambietta and her friends all froze on the spot, Yhwach's overbearing gaze settling on them.

"No sir!" Bambietta gasped out, her tone clearly in a panic. "We were just happy to hear that a new member of the Wandenreich is going to be introduced to us!"

"You will be most pleased to meet her then." Yhwach glanced over his shoulder. "Please introduce yourself, Giselle Gewelle."

"I don't want to!" a voice squeaked out from behind the emperor. "They're all going be mean to me! Just like everyone else is!"

Yhwach sighed, an uncommon sight for those under his command. A Quincy that overstepped his or her bounds he knew how to punish easily. A young girl scared out of her mind, however, was a whole different matter.

"Stern Ritter Z is a girl?" Bambietta knew what she had to do then, her self-imposed responsibility clear to her. "Your majesty, if I may?"

Yhwach looked at the Stern Ritter and nodded his head in approval.

His majesty's acceptance of what was to come, Bambietta walked forward and stepped around him. It was then that she came face to face with a rather frail and short young girl, one that was perhaps a little younger than Bambietta herself. This Giselle's long hair framed a pale face, one that was quite timid and possessing eyes that were both pleading and terrified. Bambietta began to reach out to her when the young girl backed away, trying to hide behind Yhwach no matter what it took.

"Oh no, you so do not question his majesty's orders!" Bambietta grabbed hold of Giselle's wrist and pulled her out from behind the tall emperor. In response did Giselle shiver on the spot, pulling away from Bambietta. She began to sniffle then, tears welling up underneath her eyes as she felt herself become the center of everyone's attention.

"Now look what you did, you dumb ass," Liltotto said with a sigh. "You just had to go and make her cry."

"Hey!" Bambietta shouted, ignoring Liltotto and focusing exclusively on Giselle. "No female Stern Ritter is going to be blubbering on my watch!"

"I... I knew it," Giselle whimpered. "You're a big meanie, just like everyone else was..."

"Was?" Bambietta was caught off guard by the usage of the past tense and looked towards her emperor for guidance.

"When I found this quincy in the living world, she was being assaulted by those around her," Yhwach explained simply. "Children can be so cruel, hurting those that are different from them. No doubt their actions were not a new occurrence."

"And?"

"I could not let a Quincy suffer further or perhaps die," Yhwach continued, "so I butchered those monsters myself."

That had hardly been what Bambietta had been expecting to hear, but it did not seem like it was out of the question for her emperor. Yhwach was nothing if not brutal in his simplicity. Nonetheless, Bambietta felt a shiver run down her spine as she saw the edges of Yhwach's mouth curl up slightly.

Trying to ignore the justice dealt out by her veritable god, Bambietta turned her attention back to the sobbing Stern Ritter Z and smiled slightly herself. Not one born out of a twisted satisfaction but of an attempt at comfort.

"Look, I'm sorry for being cranky, Giselle," she said, trying to be as nice as she possibly could. "It's just that, being the de facto leader of all the female Stern Ritter-"

"That hasn't been officially determined yet!"

Bambietta ignored Candice and continued to speak. "I just want to make sure everyone in my team is capable of kicking ass when need be. You have to toughen up, you know?"

"But I... I'm not a fighter..." Giselle said as she rubbed away some of her tears, her eyes never moving away from their staring at Bambietta. "I don't think I could even throw a decent punch if I tried."

"Well then," Bambietta replied, puffing her chest out proudly as she planted her hands on her hips, "I'll just have to be your sword and shield, won't I?"

Giselle sniffed back a few times, the young girl finally beginning to compose herself. "You'd do that for me?"

"What else are friends for?" Bambietta turned back to Yhwach. "By the way, your majesty, what does the Z stand for?"

"It's quite simple really," he replied. "The Zombie."

Bambietta's eyes widened, her mouth all but falling open. "Zombie?"

Giselle whimpered a bit then. She had heard the tone evident in Bambietta's voice so many times in the past from others who had rejected her. "You're going to hate me, huh?"

"No, no, no!" Bambietta replied, waving both her arms in front of herself frantically. It was simple really. She just was terrified of zombie films, that was all. A simple fact that those under her command had no problem reminding her of whenever the chance arose. "It just... wasn't the kind of power I was expecting is all! Yeah! It's... cool! Real cool!"

Liltotto rolled her eyes. "Smooth."

"You mean it?" Giselle asked, her eyes suddenly lighting up with a surprising amount of happiness. She leapt forward, wrapping her arms around Bambietta and embracing her tightly. "Oh, I've never had a friend! Thank you, thank you!"

"No... problem." Bambietta patted Giselle on the back gently, unsure of how to handle the situation. She could see Liltotto, Candice and Meninas snickering at the sight of her present circumstances. "Me, Candice, Meninas, Liltotto... We're all going to be your friends now."

Bambietta grinned then as she saw slight traces of panic appear upon the faces of the trio. She half expected Giselle to turn to them but she still kept her loving embrace of Bambietta locked in. All she did was glance over her shoulder at the others.

"Candi, Meni and Lil." Then she stared up into Bambietta's own eyes. "Can I call you Bambi?"

"Well, if you want," Bambietta said, somewhat baffled by the sudden need for nicknames.

"And I'll be Gigi!" Giselle snuggled her face directly against Bambietta, clearly not interested in letting go of her first friend any time soon. "I'm going to be with you, best buddy, right until the end of time!"

"Yeah, I won't let you be lonely," Bambietta said softly as she placed a hand on Giselle's back.

It was a quiet moment then, one that hung across the throne room for what felt like several minutes to Bambietta. The quincy was unsure of how to bring it to a close, Giselle's embrace squeezing tightening further. Then did Yhwach glance at her, a stern expression upon his aged face. He nodded slightly, his tone beginning to show his desire to end this introduction sooner rather than later.

"Stern Ritter E," he began to say, "the evening is all but upon us. I ask that you show your new... friend to her chambers. There are many left, so I leave the choice in your capable hands." Then did the emperor stare out at the rest of his forces. "My loyal followers, we are but one step closer to confronting the shinigami with the power to crush them beneath our heels! You are all dismissed!"

Bambietta could see her fellow Stern Ritter beginning to leave the room under his majesty's command and thus in turn did she begin to move forward, guiding Giselle out of the chamber. She took notice of Candice and the others still giggling at her situation but Bambietta paid it no mind. She could always berate them later if she was still irritated then. For now she had orders from his majesty to complete. She and Giselle stepped out into the hall then and the newcomer continued to cling tightly to Bambietta as they began to make their way down the narrow pathway.

"It's so cold," Giselle whimpered, her fingers digging into a sleeve of Bambietta's uniform.

"You'll get used to it," Bambietta replied, trying to gently pry Giselle off her arm. It was no use, however, and Bambietta could only sigh and leave herself to such a predicament. "It's a palace practically made out of ice so it kind of goes with the territory."

Silence overtook the two quincy as they continued their journey then; Bambietta unsure of what to actually say while Giselle was simply content to lean against her shoulder as they continued to move forward. In time, however, the unlikely pair came to the destination that Bambietta had chosen. It was not far from her own room, nor those her friends had chosen long ago, and in turn was it a perfect location. It had remained unused and quiet for some time. Once it had been home to Stern Ritter Q, Berenice Gabrielli, but she had decided to move to a new quarters further away from Bambietta and the others years earlier, having been kicked out of their little group after they had all grown fed up with her incessant need to ask hundreds of questions at any given time.

Now was that unbearable vacancy was about to end. The stillness and silence of the room was at last coming to a close, the door to the chamber slowly creaking open, two young girls standing in the entryway as the lights activated to their presence. Bambietta held the door open with her right arm, awaiting the moment that her traveling companion would step through.

There was nothing for several minutes on end, leaving the Stern Ritter to sigh slightly. "Well, here you go... Gigi."

Bambietta had little else to say as the young Stern Ritter Z stepped into the living quarters. Giselle glanced around slightly, taken back by how oddly colorful the room was compared to the pure white walls that had existed in the rest of the palace. "This is nice!"

"Hope you like it! Bye!" Bambietta was about to shut the door and take her leave when she suddenly felt a tug on her cape. She turned around and could see that Giselle had taken hold of her cloak, the girl's eyes pleading.

"Please don't go," she whimpered, her eyes showing the slightest signs of watering. "I don't want to be alone."

Bambietta could not help it, her eyes very nearly rolling in response. "Okay, fine. I'll stay a little longer."

"Yay!"

Stern Ritter E was not one for playing nice, as any of her fellow Quincy could attest to, but there was a part long since buried away within her heart that appreciated being wanted. Despite the irritation evident in her eyes, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly at the sound of Giselle squealing in delight at her answer. Then Bambietta suddenly felt the tug on her cape intensify, Giselle having not let go as she turned to move further into her room. Whether it was intentional or a random act of forgetfulness, Bambietta did not know. She simply stumbled forward, allowing the latest member of the Wandenreich to have her way with her for the moment.

Then did Giselle let go of the cloak, turning as she hopped up on her bed. "So... where are you from?"

It was an honest question but one Bambietta did not want to hear or answer. Her heart cried out in sorrow but her outer layers of personality did what they always would in such a circumstance. She simply became haughty. Bambietta puffed out her chest, closing her eyes as she firmly planted her hands on her hips. "I'm not going to dignify that question with a response, thank you very much."

"Oh." Giselle said nothing more then, unable to see past the defensive attitude and into the truth behind the rude response. She simply glanced away, her fingers closing tightly around the sheets of her bed.

Bambietta slowly opened her right eye, then her left, taking note of the way Giselle was trembling. The Quincy mentally cursed herself out then, realizing that she had gone a bit overboard yet again. "Look, I..." She was about to rationalize her action, to explain to Giselle what she had gone through ages ago, but Bambietta held her tongue, finding what she hoped would be a less painful discussion, at least for herself. "Where did you come from?"

"Perducieux." Giselle brightened up considerably, her eyes closing as a wide smile showed off her clenched teeth. "Born and raised by parents, surrounded by people."

The way she said it, Bambietta could tell there was something very off by Giselle's statement. Had she chosen her words, or lack of certain words, carefully or was she subconsciously denying that she had a loving mother and father? Worse still, Bambietta could see an errant bit of moisture at the corners of Giselle's eyes.

Bambietta's face took on a look of shock, the young lady unsure of how to even proceed now. Commands and protection, that she could easily offer to someone under her guidance, but sympathy and affection? That was something relatively alien to her. She would never ask for such things, no, but neither could she so willingly give them out either. She knew it well enough, it just was not in her makeup. Not since the day a young girl of Fioritura had died and a Stern Ritter had taken her place in one form or another.

She need not have worried herself as Giselle quickly opened her eyes. "But it's okay now," she said with a slight giggle as she brought a closed hand up to her mouth. "Because I'm with people who understand me now! You get me, don't you, Bambi?"

"Yeah, sure," Bambietta said, still trying to get used to the nickname that she had been assigned. "You, me, Candi and the rest of the gang, we're going to be friends for life."

"And maybe even death." Giselle could not help but grin a little, unnerving Bambietta the slightest bit.

"Yeah, that's... great." Bambietta shivered slightly, remembering well what Yhwach had titled this Stern Ritter. "You know, you've had a rough day, a long trip here I'm sure, so maybe you should get some rest."

"Bambi," Giselle said again, "I'm scared."

Bambietta stopped, her hand on the door knob. She sighed slightly, then glanced over her shoulder. "Of what?"

"Of... change," Giselle answered softly. "The present becomes the past, the future the present... but it always changes. Even what I have now will go away some day. Life and death, it changes everything."

Bambietta did not know what to truly say. All she could do was be herself, the boisterous and brash type. "Hey, I'll have none of that, you hear me? The Wandenreich is your family now! I'm your family now!"

"What?"

Bambietta marched over to Giselle and looked her square in the eyes. "I'm going to be with you until the end of the line, you hear? No way I'm going to let a stupid thing like death slow me down! So no more crying, no more being a scaredy cat of a silly thing like change, okay?"

Giselle wiped her hands across her eyes, taking away any tears. "Oh... okay."

"Good, now-" Bambietta was about to bid yet another attempt at farewell but stopped when Giselle began to rummage through a side pocket of her slacks. From it she produced a small trinket, one shaped like a pink heart. "What's that?"

"It's something my Mommy gave me," Giselle explained. "She told me to hold it close until I met someone who would accept me for who I truly am. When I met someone who could do what she and Daddy couldn't."

"What are you talking about?"

"If I tell you a secret," Giselle began to whisper, "I hope I can give you this."

Bambietta was not sure what her newest ally was getting at but she was willing to listen. "I guess there's only one way to find out if you can. Give it to me straight."

"I'm," Giselle began to say, taking a deep breath, "a boy."

Bambietta said nothing at first, her face remaining in a neutral expression. Then did she simply raise an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

Giselle's fingers began to wrap around the heart shaped object, unsure if she had simply found another like those who had rejected her in her old life, those who had beaten her, those who Yhwach had saved her from. She shivered a bit but pushed forward nonetheless. "Mommy and Daddy were told by the hospital that they were expecting a baby girl, but... the x-ray thingies were mixed up. They said they only found out when I was born. But they were going to have a girl, one way or another. They were so silly!"

Bambietta bit down on her lower lip, not quite liking what she was hearing. "What the hell?"

"The name, the clothes, the all-girls school, the way I was raised... I am a girl at heart, I guess." Giselle looked up at Bambietta, her eyes wavering. "Please don't tell anyone, I beg you. Even if you can't accept who I am, please respect that wish at least."

"Do you accept who you are?" Bambietta asked.

"I... I don't know who I am," Giselle answered openly. "A boy raised as a girl... I... am I a girl?

Bambietta was unsure of how she had quite gotten into a situation like this but the quincy was determined to see it through to the end if need be. "That's up to you."

Giselle was quiet then, eyes wavering as thoughts and decisions were finalized. "Yes... yes, I am a girl!"

"Then that's good enough for me." Bambietta reached out tentatively with her right hand, her thumb and index finger making contact with Giselle's chin. The older quincy had no idea what was coming over her, why she was being so kind to a relative stranger. Was Giselle's open honesty having such an effect on her that change was in the air? Bambietta could not tell. "You are who you chose to be. Not your parents. Not Yhwach. Not me. You. And I'll accept that."

Giselle looked up at Bambietta, her face overcome with joy. There was no judgment, no harsh punishment. No violence, no drawn blood, no kicking her when she was down. She simply was and that was more than enough. Giselle smiled widely then, taking hold of Bambietta's hand and moving it away from her chin. She set the heart brooch in the palm of the hand, closing Bambietta's fingers around it.

Bambietta pulled her hand away from Giselle, glancing down at the traces of bright pink heart between her fingers. It was not quite her color, it did not quite match her life style, but it was something she'd cherish regardless. Perhaps it was no different than Giselle herself. She looked towards the young girl then, an honest smile on Bambietta's face. "And your secret's safe with me if that's what you want."

Bambietta reached out with a free hand again, gently touching Giselle's shoulder.

"Now how about you get some rest and we'll see each other tomorrow, all right? It'll be time for some training, so I'm going to toughen you up, you hear?" Bambietta was about to turn away when once again did Giselle take hold of her cloak. Stern Ritter E sighed again in response, knowing that escape was clearly not an option at this rate. "Yes?"

"Just for one night," Giselle began to ask, looking away, "can you stay by my side?"

"What?" Bambietta was taken aback by the request. "What are you talking about?"

"I'll toughen up tomorrow, I promise," Giselle said meekly. "But this place is still so big and scary. So... please, just stay by my side for this one night. I beg you..."

Bambietta knew she should have declined, to have refused outright, but she could still feel in her hand the gift that Giselle had given her. She could still understand the significance of the secret that had been shared with her by the newest Stern Ritter. Because of that she relented. "Okay, fine. But just this once!"

Bambietta watched as Giselle's smile grew brighter still. The quincy undid her cape then and began to lower herself to the floor. She sat on the soft carpeting, resting her back against the bed frame as she wrapped the cloak around her body. The back of her head leaned against the soft material of the mattress as she glanced up at Giselle.

"You could use the bed you know." Giselle seemed surprised by Bambietta's actions. "That can't be comfy."

"I've slept in worse places," Bambietta replied. "Besides, that bed isn't exactly big enough for the two of us."

"Then I'll-"

"This is your room, not mine. The bed is yours to take. I'm just a transient guest at best."

"Transient?"

Bambietta sighed. Clearly some of Yhwach's word choices had rubbed off on her. "Let's just get some rest, all right?"

Bambietta reached out with her reiryoku, taking control of the energy network that pervaded the walls of the room. The lights dimmed then, just as they had come alive when she had opened the door. Darkness fell upon the room, giving Giselle reason to finally lay down in her bed. She tossed and turned for a moment before becoming still, one of her hands falling off the side of the bed and resting on Bambietta's hat and head.

"Hey..." Bambietta said softly, yawning as she started to drift into a deep slumber.

Giselle felt the contagious yawn hit her as well, her own thoughts drifting into sleep. "Bambi, you'll... you'll never change on me, right?"

There was no answer at first, Bambietta clearly asleep. Giselle closed her eyes then, realizing she would get no reply. Yet then did one come about, a loud snoring effect echoing across the room. Stern Ritter Z's eyes widened then in shock as she glanced down at Bambietta, another loud noise escaping her nose and mouth. Giselle giggled slightly in response and began to close her eyes. Yet then did Bambietta say something, leaving Giselle to wonder if she was speaking of her own volition, having awoken for a brief moment, or simply talking from her heart as she slept.

"Friends forever, Gigi..."


	2. Dead Reckoning

**Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Shonen Jump.**

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**Author's note: The conversation that takes place between Bambietta and Giselle during this chapter was cowritten by a friend and I.**

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Time had passed, friendships blossoming only to wither slightly. War was initiated, men and women died on both sides of the conflict. In the end the emperor of the quincy was slain not by a simple Soul Reaper but a child of his own, one who had been raised in the darkness. The surviving quincy fell under new authority, residing once more in the World of the Living. All that remained of the Wandenreich was an empty castle hidden amidst the shadows. Abandoned now, it was nothing more than a silent tomb on the edge of reality.

As far as Giselle was concerned it was a fitting place for her. She was one of the Stern Ritter who had survived the conflict, a stroke of luck that some would have appreciated, but she did not. As she sat atop the abandoned throne of the deceased emperor, she curled up tightly, her legs retracting against her lithe torso as she wrapped her arms around the limbs. The fortress was cold, just as it had been the first day she had seen it, its icy shell leaving her shaking uncontrollably.

All Giselle could do was say nothing as she sat there, her thoughts of the past making plenty of noise on their own.

_"No... Don't... Don't do it, Gigi..."_

_"Awwww, she looks so happy when she's dead..."_

_"Sick bitch, what's the matter with you?"_

_"You stay away from me, you hear?"_

_"We're no longer friends, you got me?"_

Giselle had clung desperately to life until the very end of the war, surviving wound after wound thanks to her schrift. The Zombie brought her back from the brink time and time again, something that she cursed it for. If she had not lived on, she never would have ended up where she was now. Alone and forgotten, abandoned by the only people who had ever accepted her.

"It was... my fault?"

It was just as it always had been, Giselle knew it. She was an outsider, a monster that those around her hated and feared. His majesty had given her a home, a family, but it was all a lie. He had turned against them all, using them like pawns and nothing more. In the end, Giselle had been abandoned once more.

"It was... my fault."

Giselle was older now. She knew full well that the true extent of her schrift, her holy letter bestowed upon her by Yhwach himself, had horrified Liltotto, Candice and Meninas. They had seen what her power was capable of, what she had been capable of, and thus in turn had they left her behind when they had gone to the mortal world to make new lives for themselves. Ironic then, that with Yhwach's passing the schrift was no more, leaving them with nothing to fear from Giselle. However, Giselle knew and understood her own failings.

"No... They didn't fear the Zombie... It's... me... they hate..."

Abandoned and rejected, Giselle had made her way back to the only home she had left. The frozen halls of the fortress Yhwach had built had been inviting at first, the darkness within a welcoming sight to one who had nothing left in her life. Giselle had chosen it then, to be the last stop of her existence before she would simply die from loneliness.

The days had rolled by, but to a heart consumed by sorrow it had been only an instant. Still did she wait with increasing impatience for her life to fade completely. She did not eat, she did not sleep, she did not smile. She simply waited alone in the darkness.

However, it was then that a light began to shatter that darkness. A low creaking sound echoed across the throne room as its main doorway began to open slowly. Strands of light pierced the shadow and flooded Giselle's eyes. She strained against the bright light but could make out a figure standing within it and entering the room.

"I want, no... need to be left alone," Giselle hissed, a moment of unusual anger flooding her. "Go away."

There was no response, the figure simply standing silent in the midst of the outpouring light. It remained unmoving, its features obscured by the illumination issuing forth from the outer hall.

Giselle frowned slightly, speeking meekly once more. "Please, just go."

Once more was there no response, the figure simply taking one step forward. Only then did Giselle grow frustrated, her dejected countenance falling aside in favor of anger.

"Leave me the hell alone!"

The figure still said nothing, clearly not phased by the quincy's rage. Instead it simply slipped a hand out from within its cloak, allowing it to push shut the doorway. The overbearing light began to fade then, leaving Giselle to very slowly become accustomed to the darkness she had buried herself away in. She stared at the individual who dared not listen to her, the quincy straining her eyes to make out just who it was. A hollow seeking another victim? A shinigami looking to avenge comrades lost in the war? Giselle did not know, yet before she could ascertain the information for herself did she receive a hint in the form of a voice.

"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you? After all the trouble I went to find you and you expect me to just walk away."

Giselle's eyes widened a bit, the voice sound so very familiar. Despite the inflections of rage did it sound like a sweet symphony to the young lady, leaving her lips to twist away from a sullen expression into a wide smile. "Bambi?"

A sudden streak of blue light pierced the darkness, shattering the wall beside the throne that Giselle resided upon. She glanced at the fading attack then turned back. She could see it clearly then, Bambietta Basterbine standing in the doorway, no longer clad in a uniform befitting the Vandenreich. Still was dressed from head to toe in white, wearing an outfit befitting a traditional quincy, a matching mantle adorning her shoulders. A blue light was cast upon her body, one generating by the fading glow that resided at the very tip of her short sword. That very same light cast its glow across Bambietta's face, leaving Giselle to feel nervous.

There was no emotion, no sense of anger or happiness. The eyes were cold, the expression unmoving. It was the very face that Giselle had seen Bambietta wear after she had disposed of many a quincy when the mood had struck her to do so. Time and again she had vented her innermost frustrations by murdering those beneath her station, her countenance never wavering. Now it was before Giselle, focusing solely upon her and leaving the quincy's blood to run cold.

"Giselle Gewelle," Bambietta said softly, her tone even and steady, "it's time to die."

It did not make the least amount of sense to Giselle, but her own deep-seated feelings overrode any dread that should have consumed her heart. She did not understand it at all. "I tried to find you, after the battle, but you were gone! Oh, I'm so happy to see you here! Didn't I tell you that I'd miss you so much?"

Another burst of blue light flared forth then and the stone flooring near the throne room burst apart, a few bits of small debris flying past Giselle. Bambietta's voice projected outwards again, a hint of rage pervading it. "Oh believe me, I've heard more than enough of your love for me to last a lifetime."

Giselle could not understand it. By her hands, by her own hands, had Bambietta died and been reborn as a zombie. If she was here now, then clearly the schrift was still in effect. "I still have the Zombie after all? All this time?" Giselle felt a nervous smile cross her face, a slight bit of twisted confidence rising within in. "Now, now... the puppet shouldn't attack the one holding the strings." Giselle's face narrowed, her eyes sharpening as she looked at Bambietta's form hidden in the dark. She raised a hand, her fingers spreading out like a spider's legs. "Listen to me now, you bad little girl..."

There was some chuckling as the sound of footsteps echoed across the throne room, Bambietta moving towards Giselle. "That's right... You don't know do you?" Another arrow of light shot forth from the sword then, tearing apart the corner of the throne that resided by Giselle's head.

"Know what?" Giselle asked, a slight bit of sweat slipping down the side of her face, her resolve and confidence cracking. "I already made you mine... and it felt so good..."

Giselle remembered it well, the moments between when she had torn out Bambietta's heart, then returned it to her chest cavity and made her a zombie. She had done her very best to leave her friend looking at ease, turning her deceased frown upside down with a gentle tug of the lips.

It had made Giselle feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Now however, Giselle could feel it, see it; Bambietta was not responding to her control. She had no sway over the volatile quincy. It was clear then, that the power of the Zombie was truly gone, having faded away along with Yhwach's life. How then, Giselle had to wonder, could Bambietta be here now?

"But... I'm guessing you..." Giselle's voice was shaking, feeling true fear for the first time since she had been a young girl. "You know what I did, don't you?"

"That I do... which is why I decided to seek you out to return the favor." Bambietta raised her sword up high, an blast of light firing forth. It struck the ceiling and flew into the heavens, leaving the light of the quincy's world to flood the room. Bambietta then stepped into that column of light, allowing her Giselle to see her in full.

All it took was one look at Bambietta's appearance and Giselle could understand now that she was truly no longer a zombie under her thrall. Gone was the undead pigmentation of her flesh, the lost look that had pervaded her eyes a thing of the past. Bambietta was back to normal and very much alive, as if the incident had never happened.

This was a Bambietta Basterbine indeed!

"But I.. I killed you... killed you to death..." Giselle was at a loss for words, barely making much sense as it was. Bambietta was clearly back to the way she was, physically at least, but she was still acting like a zombie in Giselle's opinion. The Bambietta she knew would be enraged by what had happened, not calm and restrained. She could sense the bloodlust, but it was eerie just how contained it appeared to be. "This must be a trick... That shinigami captain, turning another of my precious against me..."

"It's kind of funny really, how intelligent that man is. Not only did he find a way to take control of your zombies, he also found a way to undo your power completely. Said something about it being a waste to throw away the zombies when they were low on shinigami and the undead weren't very useful... so he decided to fix them, all of them, including me as well. Ironic, really. I was fighting against the shinigami... but it was a quincy who killed me... and the shinigami who gave me another chance."

"Well that's just rude," Giselle stammered. "Taking someone's toys away when they worked so very hard to get them."

"Yeah, about that... did you know that even though I was a zombie, I was still aware of everything you had been doing with me?" Bambi simply smiled, her bloodlust growing even stronger as her hand tightened around the handle of her sword. "Let me just say it's not fun at all having something else control your body..."

"Everything? Well now.. this is awkward..." Giselle began to step back, trying to hide behind the shattered throne. "Any chance we could put the past behind us, Bambi?"

"I'll be doing just that when I'm walking away from your grave." Bambietta moved in closer then, grabbing one of Giselle's arms roughly and dragging her out into the open and away from her hiding spot. "You know, I was really thinking up some truly twisted ways of making you suffer for what you'd done! But just like the Zombie, the Explode is gone as well! Thankfully... I have other methods."

Giselle stared at Bambietta's face, watching as her lips curled back into a truly cruel smile.

"I always wondered if you even felt pain when you had your power," Bambi hissed through gritted teeth, "but I suppose I don't have to worry about that now."

"Oh, I... I felt it." Giselle looked away, her heart aching with despair. "It hurt still. Every time. I just... got used to it after a while, you know? As much... as much as I could. " Giselle could see the writing on the wall. The scales of power had flipped once again and there was nothing she could do. "Go ahead. Just... do it."

Approaching closer, Bambietta pointed the tip of her sword toward Giselle. "You're not going to run away? That would be the wiser option compared to standing up to me right now." A quick chuckle came over Bambietta, her free hand going up to her mouth. To Giselle she truly did not seem like herself. Perhaps being returned to normal did not restore her completely, or perhaps the shinigami captain had done something extra to her. Either way, Giselle knew full well that Bambietta certainly remembered everything from the sound of it and was set on getting revenge.

"What's the point?" Giselle said. "Fight or run, you're going to get to me, right? So what's the point in prolonging the inevitable? But I guess..." Giselle looked Bambietta in the eyes. "I guess you've never seen it that way, have you? Fight to live, right to the bitter end, correct?"

"True, true. Though recent events have got me thinking about that to be perfectly honest. Anyways, if you're not going to do anything, that just makes it easier on me then."

"Just..." Giselle's voice was cracking, her feelings at the forefront of her mind. "Just do what you must, Bambi."

Bambietta's smile faded, her eyes narrowing. She allowed her sword to fade away into the ether of reishi, her fingers wrapping into the palm of her hand tightly. "Don't you dare call me by that name!"

A fist slashed across Giselle's face, knuckles dragging across the flesh of her cheek. The former Stern Ritter Z cried out in pain, blood beginning to seep from the corner of her mouth as she fell to the stone floor. Bambietta gave her no time to register what had happened though, reaching down and taking hold of the collar of Giselle's Wandenreich uniform. She dragged her up then and stared into her dazed eyes.

"You don't... don't deserve to call me that anymore!" Bambietta screamed, her emotions teetering on the edge. She struck Giselle with another punch, forcing the woman's head to turn slightly once again. "You're not my friend! You never were, you bitch!"

"Hurts so... so..." Giselle wasn't even able to finish the sentence as she was forced to bite down on her lower lip as the sensations of agony continued to wash over her. She was used to pain, just as she said, but it always faded in an instant, the power of the Zombie healing any damage almost instantly. She had not experienced true pain, not since that day Yhwach had found her. Giselle glanced towards Bambietta, seeing a look in her eyes that made even her own blood run cold. The look was of pure murderous intent despite the fact that she seemed to be smiling as well. Whatever was going on, it was clear that Bambietta was not going to listen to Giselle's attempts at defending herself.

Then did Bambietta bring her right knee up sharply between Giselle's legs, the older woman allowing herself to feel the clash of bone and sinew against the most delicate of anatomy. She watched then as Giselle's face began to contort into a pained expression, yet there was something else there. Something that warmed the truly cruel heart that Bambietta felt she now possessed.

Tears, there were tears beginning to stream down Giselle's face. Not born from the physical agony she now experienced, no, but of the deep rooted hurt that Bambietta had unleashed upon her heart and soul. It was something that the older quincy was most willing to increase a thousandfold if need be.

"That's right." Bambietta began to speak once more, choosing each and every word carefully, knowing that the ones she had settled upon would wound Giselle to the her very core. "You're not a bitch, just a bastard."

"Please don't..." Giselle's eyes wavered slightly then, moisture forming at their edge. That had been a secret she had trusted with Bambietta so long ago and now it had been turned against her. Yet Giselle knew she deserved it and so much more. In turn, as if able to read her mind, did Bambietta give her just that.

"You see this?" the older quincy said, bringing one arm up, a memento from long ago in hand. "I'm going to bury it with you, you hear me? Then I'll be fucking free of it all!"

Giselle could make out exactly what Bambietta held before her clearly. It was the brooch her mother had given to her so long ago, the very same brooch that Giselle had bestowed upon Bambietta the first day they had met. It was a symbol of their friendship, of the trust they had with one and another. Now however could Giselle finally understand the depths of what had happened. She betrayed Bambietta and in turn had the woman betrayed the sacred trust she had placed within her. Her hidden secret used against her, the symbol of her trust to be cast aside like so much trash. Giselle's lower lip began to quiver then, her tears only increasing to flow from her eyes.

"Bambi, how could you?"

"How could I?" Bambietta's voice truly lost any fragments of sorrow then, becoming laced with malice and rage. "How could I? How could you? How did you think I would feel when you killed me? When you turned me into that... that thing?"

"Bambi, I-"

"So what if I'm stabbing you in back over the secret you shared with me?" Bambietta interrupted, her voice trailing off. "Maybe now you'll share my pain."

Giselle was about to say something, anything, to defuse the volatile situation and the state of mind Bambietta was in, yet she had to wonder if there was anything she could offer up. There was the truth, no matter how much of a violation of sanity it was, yet she had to wonder if Bambietta would ever accept it. Trying to fight back her tears and anguish, Giselle prepared herself to speak, only to be interrupted by Bambietta once more.

"I'm going to kill you, Giselle. No amount of begging will stop that. I'm going to put an end to you and then cast aside any memory I have left. You'll never be able to hurt me again. Then I'll be free." Then, as if for no other reason than to make Giselle's skin crawl, did a dark chuckle escape from Bambietta's mouth. "You know, it was honestly amusing to see you thinking you were the one with the power. Oblivious to how little control you actually had in the long run."

Giselle's own misery began to shift slightly then, the quincy beginning to wonder if her own death was the only sane solution to everything that had happened. She was still plagued with despair, yes, but she could not help but talk despite it al. "Well that's true, but I could say the same about you."

"What was that?" Bambietta snapped then, her fingers wrapping around the heart brooch and into a fist. It moved forward then, striking Giselle across the face, harder than the previous two times. "I'm sorry, but were you comparing me to you?"

"I learned... from the best," Giselle gagged out, very nearly choking on the blood that was rising in her throat. "You were always bossy, ruling me and the other girls by fear... And I thought I could do it too... But all it did... was drive people away... or worse..."

"Don't you dare pretend we're anything alike!" Bambietta screamed, punching Giselle in a rage once again, the woman's blood staining her knuckles. "Don't you dare, Giselle!"

"You... led by example," Giselle whimpered. "How... how many quincy did you kill... when you were in a foul mood?"

"They weren't my friends! Not like I was to you!"

"No, you made them... think it was something more than that, didn't you? Then you you left each one... half the man they used to be, huh?"

Bambietta froze for a moment, staring into Giselle's bloodied face. She held a closed fist high but kept the strike from landing, her hand shaking uncontrollably. For a moment she could see it clearly, face after face, each one splitting down the middle as they fell apart before her cold eyes.

Then did Bambietta throw that punch, letting Giselle collapse to the floor and spitting up blood. Bambietta was breathing in ragged bursts now, her own temper having finally pushed her past cold rage. She was infuriated now, the truth settling in her heart. Her hand reflexively opened and the sword formed once more, this time held in a reverse grip. Bambietta knelt down and forced Giselle to turn over. She then hovered the point of the blade over Giselle's heart, the weapon shaking as did the hand that held it.

"Trust me..." Bambietta whispered, her voice unsteady and uncontrolled, repeating words she had heard not that long ago. "You'll get what's coming to you... When this is all over..."

"I'm... sorry... I'm sorry... sorry... sorry..." Giselle repeated weakly. "I just looked up to... my friend... Bambi..."

Bambietta's eyes narrowed again. "That word again. I don't think you have a clue what it means!"

"No, I don't... I guess..." Giselle's eyes began to waver then, water building at their edges. "You, Candi, Lil, Meni... you were the only ones I ever had and I forced you all away. I... I killed you for your... own good. I... I..."

"What now?" Bambietta held her weapon tightly, never having expected to hear such a defense from Giselle. She hesitated for a moment, seemingly interested in what the former Stern Ritter Z had to say. "You better hurry and get it out soon while you can still speak!"

"His majesty, he..." Giselle could only whimper the words out now, every syllable bringing on new pain as she felt blood continuing to settle in her mouth. "During the second invasion, rumors were spreading that he..." Giselle closed her eyes for a moment, her teeth gritting in the process. "BG9 and Cang Du were defeated in in battle... and Yhwach had them executed. I.. I couldn't bear to... to..."

"Really now? I suppose that would be fitting if the Stern Ritter failed to live up to expectations."

Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Shonen Jump.

Author's note: The conversation that takes place between Bambietta and Giselle during this chapter was cowritten by a friend and I.

"And you... you were..." Tears began to seep down and around Giselle's face, mixing with the blood that was oozing from her mouth. "You were beaten... hurt... And I..." Giselle hesitated then, trying to find the words to express herself. "I never lied to you, Bambi..."

"This is your justification?" Bambietta asked, her voice low, yet still trembling more and more with each word. The quincy seemed to pause, becoming lost in her own confusion. "You thought it was a good idea to turn me into a zombie over having someone else finish me off? I pledged my life to Yhwach long before you did! If I failed, if I did not measure up to his expectations, then it was his will and right to end my life!"

Bambietta heard the words she had just spoke, cursing herself for even saying them. She had looked up to Yhwach as a god but he had been a cruel deity at best. Once she had felt that way, no doubt, but his betrayal of those loyal to him, his use of the auschwalen, was unforgivable.

"You always... fought to live..." Giselle gasped out, a bit of blood spitting up in the process. "How can you say... that?"

Bambietta had no answer. Instead she turned the argument against Giselle. "So, what? You took it upon herself to kill me in his place? Was that how you got your rocks off?"

"Worst case.. scenario. I... didn't want Yhwach to kill you... For us to lose you forever Lil, Candi, Meni... We all wanted you around, but... we thought if we took you for our own that Yhwach could not claim your soul." Giselle looked towards Bambietta, her own face showing signs of understanding. "The road to hell... is paved with good intentions..."

Bambietta knew that expression well enough, having weighed the decisions of her life ever since she had been reborn alive and well. A certain shinigami vice-captain's words weighed on her mind still. The sword once more vanished, allowing the quincy the usage of both hands. Her fingers wrapped around Giselle's throat, shaking all the while.

"You... betrayed my... my trust," Bambietta said, her own eyes watering, her tears falling upon Giselle's face. "I begged you not to do it! I fucking begged you!"

"We were... I was wrong. I get it, but... I didn't see any other way." Giselle's face contorted with pain as she felt her windpipe begin to compress. "I... I really am a sadist, aren't... I?"

Bambietta's grip tightened for a moment but then her hands went slack. She let go of Giselle's throat and moved away from her.

The younger quincy sat up, gasping for breath as she did so. "We didn't... I couldn't bear the thought of losing you because of Yhwach, so I... I- Bambietta, I'm sorry."

"You fool," the older quincy said, her voice trailing off. "It's Bambi, remember?"

Giselle did not know what to say, but neither did Bambietta for the moment. The former Stern Ritter E simply stood there in the dark, her arms folded across her chest. Her thoughts were a jumble, a sea of mixed emotions. Her desire to torment and kill Giselle was fading fast, forever ruined thanks to what she had just heard. That Giselle's action were born from the honest desire to protect her. That underneath the twisted personality the feelings were genuine.

Bambietta ran a hand threw her long, dark hair, trying to rationalize it all. She remembered a girl from so many years ago, timid and innocent, scarred by life. A young girl that had hugged her sincerely, her attachment complete. Hero worship of a broken girl herself, one who had no right to be a role model, to lead by example.

One brief chuckle left Bambietta's shoulders to rise and fall. "Yhwach makes a monster... and then she does the same..."

"Bambi?"

Bambietta turned and watched as Giselle stood, blood still seeping from her mouth. Bambietta moved in close then, tearing a piece of her mantle off as she did so. Gently did she dot it against Giselle's mouth, cleaning what damage she could. "Where are the others?"

"Back among the living," Giselle answered. "Beyond that I really don't know. Lil and I found Candi and Meni back in the Soul Society but when we couldn't find..." Giselle trailed off, the girl suddenly unwilling to look Bambietta in the eyes at all. "When we couldn't find... what I'd turned you into, we went our separate ways. And I... I came back here."

"Why didn't you go with them?"

"What was the point?" Giselle asked. "We'd all been betrayed by our god, the Soul Reapers had won... and... they wanted nothing to do with me after what I'd done to you."

"Even so..." Bambietta began to say, breathing deep. "Do you miss them?"

"Of course I do," Giselle answered. "You were the only friends I ever had. Someone like me... doesn't make friends easily. And I... I threw it all away. They agreed to what I'd do if you were in danger, but... they'd never seen the Zombie up close before. Candi was especially pissed. But," Giselle turned to face Bambietta with tears staining her face and dripping down on her ragged white uniform, "I hurt you, Bambi. I... I actually smiled when I killed you. How can anyone... how can you... want to be my friend?"

Bambietta did not know quite how to answer that. She had come here on behalf of a roaring rampage of revenge. She had wanted the kill, the payback, nothing more. However, she had gotten something more regardless of her wants and desires. Beyond the anger, beyond the rage, there had been one other dominant feeling that had clouded Bambietta's heart. She reached out then, embracing Giselle in a tight hug. Not around her throat, no, but across her entire upper body.

"I felt lonely when I lost sight of you four. I... wanted things to go back to the way they used to be... No... to be better."

Giselle fell into the hug then, her head resting on her friend's shoulder. "Bambi!"

The abuse and torment that Giselle had suffered throughout her childhood had left her feeling like nothing more than a monster, a beast to be hated and despised. However, to any outsider, even fellow Stern Ritter, the group that had formed underneath Bambietta's tenuous wings had been outcasts, each one. They had been the only true friends each other had, through good times and bad, through bickering and teasing. Yet they had betrayed each other out of good intentions, all because of the edicts handed down by the one they had considered their god. Only now, when the battles were ended and the dust settled, could they find atonement.

Giselle's tears began to stain Bambietta's mantle, the younger quincy sobbing uncontrollably. Her heart had broken the moment she had torn out another's, having destroyed itself, but now at last was it beginning to mend. "We... we should put the band back together..."

"Yes... Let's do that. We'll go to the living world and track them all down."

"You..." Giselle had one reservation. "You're okay with me, right? But... will any of them feel the same?"

"As the leader, I'll make them feel the same!" Bambietta said with no hidden amount of pride, her chest puffing out as she tried to put on an air of confidence. "It's my fault for not keeping the group together. If they see I'm back to normal, I think that would be enough reason for things to get back to normal."

Bambi smiled a bit.

"Just make sure not to kill me a second time."

Yhwach and his self-destructive rulings were no longer a concern, so Giselle knew that would no longer be an issue, but one thing still tore at her soul.

"I was smiling, but... my heart... it was..." She backed away from Bambietta, clutching at her chest tightly as if it was that dark, twisted moment all over again. "That smile was nothing but a lie, Bambi. You were scared, I saw that, and I thought if I smiled it would make you feel at ease, but... I don't understand people at all because... I'm a damned monster."

"Even so, you're a part of my group. It wouldn't be the same without you around. Allow me and the others to help you. I'm certain you could still learn to understand."

"You'd do that for me? After everything I did? Everything I put you through?"

"I'm the leader. You're my responsibility. If anything, it was my own fault for not helping you properly sooner." Bambietta smiled, though she also seemed sad herself. "I forgive you for your decision. Can you forgive me for being a poor leader? For not fulfilling my promise to be your sword and shield?"

"I can't," Giselle answered honestly. "I can't because I could never consider you a bad leader."

Bambietta felt her eyes water, the quicny wiping them away quickly, hoping Giselel did not notice. "All right then. Come on, we've got to find the other three then!"

Giselle watched as Bambietta began to turn away and she reached a hand out, her fingers latching on to the back of her leader's, no, her friend's mantle. "Thank you, Bambi."

Bambi looked back to Giselle, giving her a smile that was simply and honestly happy. "Just try to tone down the creepiness a little if you can."

"That," Giselle said with a nod and a smile, "I cannot make any promises on, but... I'll try." Giselle walked up beside Bambietta, joining her friend and leader side by side. "I might be able to help us a little. I didn't really give it much thought since... well..." Giselle shook her head, her hair bobbing slight. "But Meni did say to the others that they should go to Karakura Town. Apparently it's a hotbed for supernatural stuff."

"All right then. Let's start there and see what we can find." For the first time in a long while did Bambietta honestly felt like she was at peace, not a drop of anger in her wanting to rush out. "Let's get a move on."


	3. The Judgemental Light

**Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Shonen Jump.**

* * *

Karakura Town. It was known far across the world for comparatively little, a relatively unknown location marked on a map but rarely paid attention to. It was just another in a long line of small cities strewn across a nation nestled within a corner of the world, one whose borders were surrounded not by other countries but the ocean itself. If a human being on the other side of the globe were asked where Karakura Town was precisely and what its value was to reality itself they would have no answer, merely becoming plagued by confusion.

However, if the beings of the afterlife were asked that very same question, they would answer within a heartbeat. For Karakura Town was a nexus point for the supernatural. Shinigami, quincy, hollows, arrancar, and fullbringers; they had all come to this location at one point or another. Despite the inability of the common folk to take notice of what was occurring around them, it did not change the fact that Karakura Town was host to many a paranormal visitor.

Today no different. Away from prying eyes, deep down the dead end of a back alley, a strange swirling mass of shadow came into being. It took shape across the wall of the one of the buildings, drawing from the shadows cast off by the overbearing sunlight above. The phenomenon solidified then, its stability at the ready. Then did a foot issue forth from the black mass, a leg and then a body following.

Her name was Bambietta Basterbine and she had business to attend to in this town. In her hand was a suitcase, a sign of her intention to stick around for some time. She was clad practically head to toe in white, the blue etchings of the quincy adorning her outfit. For so long she had walked amongst others clad in the uniform of the Wandenreich but that time was long since over. Deep within the abandoned palace of ice she had once considered home had Bambietta found the garb of the traditional quincy, though she had made her own slight modifications to it. From her shoulders hung a mantle that issued forth a cloak, one that very nearly reached her ankles. Impractical, perhaps, but the Quincy had grown quite accustomed to having what she felt was a barrier between herself and others. It was just cloth, yes, but to her it was a placebo of a shield, one that gave her peace of mind. Underneath her skirt existed dark blue tights, a necessary change. Without the Explode she could no longer fight at a more leisurely pace from a distance. She would have to be much more active now, modesty a must.

However, there was one part of her uniform she had kept. Wrapped around her waist was a belt adorned by a pink heart shaped buckle. It clashed greatly with her chosen garments, but she would not part with it. She was both unwilling and unsure of her decision on that front.

The quincy glanced around for a moment, relieved that she had opened the portal in the correct spot. She had no desire to run afoul of any witnesses to her arrival. Unnecessary complications were something she had no interest in dealing with. Not now at the very least. Everything as she wished, Bambietta motioned towards the shadow portal that she had stepped forth from. "Hey, Gigi, the coast's clear. Come on out."

"You sure it's safe?"

Bambietta sighed. "Yes, I'm sure. You hear a battle going on out here or anything?"

"Well you aren't cursing up a storm... or blowing stuff up or anything... so I'll take your word for it."

"I can't do that anymore, remember?" Bambietta felt her shoulders drop a little bit. For so long the she had held a piece of her god within the core of her very being. He had granted her the power to take control of her own life, to have the strength to fight those who had taken from her so much. Now, with the passing of Yhwach, that power had vanished. All she had now was her own soul, her own strength to rely on. There was a benefit to it, however. The one who was with her had also lost her schrift, becoming a normal quincy as well. The power that brought such terrible harm to Bambietta was no more, leaving behind nothing more than a damaged young lady. "Come on, Gigi, we don't have all day."

Slowly did the lithe young woman step out from the shadows, a tentative expression etched upon her face. Dressed similarly to Bambietta, a matching white suitcase in her hands as well, she glanced around slightly at her new settings. Giselle Gewelle was unsure about her leader but it had been many a year since she herself had last set foot in the mortal world. Ever since Yhwach had appeared before her, Giselle had known nothing but the realms of the spiritual, be it the icy fortress Yhwach had taken her to, Hueco Mundo or the Soul Society. The energy, the very fabric of reality, felt so different here, so very alien. She felt her breath catch in her throat, her eyes widening a little as she gasped.

"Whoa there, easy!" Bambietta moved in close to Giselle, placing one arm across her back, her other hand pressing firmly beneath her chest to help keep her steady. "Deep breaths, just take deep breaths and I promise you'll get used to the living world again."

It was then that Bambietta mentally chastised herself for being so demanding of Giselle stepping out of the portal so quickly. The quincy remembered full well her first visit to the this realm after becoming a Stern Ritter under Yhwach's command. It had been just as rough on her as well, her body having grown accustomed to the realms of the dead. It had been three years after her initiation, three years since she had left behind the decayed village that had once been her home. She had asked his permission of course, and he had granted it after much deliberation. Bambietta had taken that sabbatical for all it was worth, using the shadows under her control to visit country after country, city after city. Some had been more interesting than others but there was one place Bambietta had refused to go to, both on a conscious and unconscious level.

She knew in her heart then that you could not return home, no matter how much you craved to. The pain would not allow it.

Her thoughts returning to the present, Bambietta watched as Giselle's breathing began to stabilize, her face becoming calmer with each passing second. "Thank you, Bambi." Giselle stood upright then as Bambietta stepped away, allowing her the room she needed. "I... I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Yeah, I think we both know you don't have the ability to function without me." The words were cruel in both their intention and inflection, leaving Bambietta to instantly regret what she had just stated. She could see Giselle glancing away suddenly, the young lady knowing full well what had been meant. "Gigi, I-"

"No, you're right." Giselle's voice was unnaturally quiet, her right hand gripping down tightly on her opposing arm. "I wouldn't go on without you, no matter... what it took."

There was a silence between the two women then, neither able to find the words to help mend the moment. It had not been long since Bambietta had gone on what she had felt a roaring rampage of revenge. She had searched and searched for Giselle, intent on making her suffer before death in response to the personal betrayal she had suffered at her hands. Bambietta had been pursuing a monster but all she had found hidden away in the darkness had been a frail, sobbing child seeking atonement through death. Bambietta had intended to look into the eyes of a heartless creature as the light faded from them, but all she had stared into was the eyes of a young girl she had grown up beside, one who had longed for her friendship and guidance.

They had come to an understanding then, yes, but their relationship could never be the same. Bambietta was uneasy, Giselle agonized. Both wanted things to be as they had been before the second invasion of the Soul Society but a path towards that outcome seemed so very far out of reach.

"Listen," Bambietta finally said, trying to break the ice, "we need to find a place to stay before night falls. Not to mention we're going to need food and water."

Bambietta was sure that was something that Giselle may well have forgotten over the years. Such things had been nothing more than a simple novelty in the realm tucked away in the shadows of the Soul Society. Yhwach had shown the quincy how to thrive and sustain themselves on nothing more than the reishi around them. It was a gift of the quincy, to have such command over the wavelengths that made up reality, something shinigami and hollows could only dream of, but it was not an ability that would serve them well in the mortal world. She had been here plenty of times in the past, though not recently, and Bambietta had learned quite readily that the reishi of this realm were too densely packed to be controlled in such a passive manner.

"So we need the local currency, right?" Giselle asked, trying to get her head wrapped around what needed to be done. Money had not been an object to the life of a Stern Ritter, Yhwach having promised and given a world beyond the needs of material things, but Giselle knew of it still. "So, what are we going to do? Knock over a bank?" A sly smile spread along Giselle's lips. "We have the power to do as we please."

"Well it isn't like we're good little girls," Bambietta replied, her own grin coming into view. "Want, take, have; it's a simple as that. But I have other methods." Bambietta reached around in a pocket that was built into her uniform, removing from it a pale blue wallet. She opened it then, showing Giselle the crisp paper money inside. "I've had my fun around the world, odd jobs aplenty when I needed a break from the Wandenreich, so I think we've got enough to keep us covered until we find the girls."

Giselle perked up then, her eyes taking on an excited glow. "Then everything will be like it should be!"

"That's the plan!" Bambietta flashed a broad smile of her own but her thoughts were less than positive. She was unsure of just how well a reunion could go. Had it been too long, had too much happened since the war had begun, for things to ever return to normal? She was playing nice with Giselle but there was still a hint of worry buried deep within Bambietta's heart. Still, she did all she could to keep her outer countenance a cheery one. "Come on, Gigi, let's see what kind of trouble we can get in!"

* * *

Tabijinohate was a little known motel on the outskirts of Karakura Town. It was not much to see from the outside, but its quaint qualities endeared it to Giselle if not Bambietta.

"How about this place? Can we go there, Bambi, can we please?"

Bambietta felt Giselle continue to tug on her cloak as she pointed towards the one floor motel, the rooms clearly accessed from the outside, no hallways to speak of. It was not much to be certain but it would no doubt be a reasonable enough way to stretch their funds as far as they could go. Considering the quincy had no idea how long the search for their missing friends could take, that would be ideal. "All right, all right, no need to tug on my cape. Next thing you know you'll be spitting in the wind."

Bambietta and Giselle made their way towards the main office located at the center of the motel. Bambietta was first through the door, holding it open so that Giselle could enter as well. They both looked around and took notice that no one was in sight, leaving one disappointed, the other angry. Biting down on her lower lip, Bambietta stormed over to the counter and slammed the open palm of one hand on the bell. It rang just as she intended but no one came to greet herself and Giselle.

Bambietta's face twitched slightly, the quincy getting visibly annoyed. Still she pressed on, bringing her hand down on the bell again and again. "Seriously where the hell is everyone?"

For so long had Bambietta lived with her emotions on her proverbial sleeve. She had never been one to hold back in any matter as one of the Stern Ritter, but she knew things had to be different now. No longer did she have the specific power to make her temper a thing to be feared, though she was sure a few well-placed arrows would still suffice, but she also no longer had the Wandenreich or Yhwach to fall back upon. Such emotional outbursts just would not do, especially in the realm of mortality. The last thing she and Giselle needed to do was get the attention of the Soul Society. There was one shinigami that Bambietta thought that maybe, just maybe, she could trust, but the majority of them were another story. All that dwelled in the back of her mind was the prospect of both herself and Giselle being hunted down. Still, her temper was not an easy thing to hold back. She bit down on her lower lip, trying to restrain her anger.

"Sorry, sorry," an older man said as he stepped out from the back office, a stack of paperwork in his hands. He was a disheveled sort, the scars of a long and bitter life etched into the flesh that stretched across his face. His ragged gray hair reached down to his shoulders, a pair of worn spectacles covering his eyes. He placed the paperwork down on the counter and blinked a few times as he stared at the two quincy. "You two in town for an anime and manga convention I take it?"

"Anime? Manga?" Giselle asked, tilting her head slightly as she stepped up beside Bambietta at the counter. Her voice belied her confusion, leaving her leader to remember that only one of them had left the fortress before, let alone visit Japan.

"Cartoons and comics, yeah, they're our bread and butter!" Bambietta said proudly, planting her hands on her hips and letting her cloak spread across her arms. "Just some cosplayers in town, nothing else! Totally nothing else! Nope!"

"I suppose those costumes of yours do look like they'd fit right in Detergent," the older man said. "Good series but I still can't wrap my head around what the artist had happen to Barbara Bombshell. Having one of her friends turn her into a vampire against her will was so messed up. I'm just crossing my fingers that her and Gertrude Glaister sort things out and get a happy ending when it's all said and done, you know? If I wasn't such an optimist I'd probably just up and quit the series out of disgust."

Giselle visibly cringed. "Gertrude?"

"I'm sure everything will end up just fine," Bambietta said, trying to get the conversation back on track. "So, since my friend and I are in town, we'd really appreciate if we could get a room."

"Oh yes, of course!" The man clapped his hands together. "My apologies, I should have gotten straight to business. Ryo Tohsaka at your service. So how long do you need the room for?"

"I guess it all depends," Bambietta answered, unsure of just how long the search for Candice, Meninas and Liltotto would take. "How about we just pay night by night, okay?"

"That's quite all right," Ryo said. "So then, as for pay for the first night here..."

Some time was spent haggling prices, but in the end did Bambietta relent to what she felt was a bit more expensive for a motel than she had been expecting. Still, she was not going to argue. The sooner she and Giselle could find a roof over their heads the better. As she stepped back outside the duo could see that the sun was setting, night descending upon Karakura Town. Bambietta walked forward then, the keys to their room in hand.

"What about dinner, Bambi?" Giselle asked as she walked up beside her friend, her stomach clearly growling. "We've got to eat something, right?"

"I'll give you some cash if you want to check out those places across the street, Gigi," Bambietta replied, a yawn escaping her lips, "but frankly, I'm too tired to even go get a snack."

"Are you all right?" Giselle asked, quite concerned for her friend.

"I'm fine," the older quincy replied as she rubbed her eyes with one hand, "just sleepy is all." Bambietta ruffled through her wallet and handed Giselle some money. "Have some fun, okay? When you get back, just knock twice and I'll let you in."

"Okay!" Giselle scampered off with the money, very nearly giving Bambietta a heart attack as she ran across the road without hesitation, one car swerving to the side to avoid her.

"Hey, Gigi!" Bambietta shouted, forcing Giselle to turn around as she stood on the opposing sidewalk. "Make sure to look next time!"

Giselle glanced around sheepishly as she took sight of the automobiles that came into view on the roadway, their headlights piercing the ever darkening air. She was not stupid, and despite having not been to this world since she had been a child, Giselle knew full well that getting run over would be the death of her. It was just that she had grown so used to having the power of the Zombie at her side that she had not thought for the moment. She nodded at Bambietta, then walked slowly towards the nearest fast food restaurant, one marked as WacDonald's.

"I swear," Bambietta sighed, very nearly dropping her face into an open palm, "that girl is going to be the... death.. of..."

The quincy refused to finish that sentence, her hands curling into a fist. She was playing nice, she really was, but forgiveness was not such an easy commodity to give after an experience like she had suffered.

"Damn it."

Bambietta's mouth began to open and she stretched her arms out, allowing her yawn to echo outwards. It was true, she was unnaturally tired, but she had her reasons, reasons she was not so inclined to share with Giselle. Shaking her head slightly, Bambietta turned towards her new, temporary home. She unlocked the door and stepped in.

"What the hell is this crap?"

The room was impeccably spotless, more than Bambietta had expected from a motel, but there was one major problem, one that Ryo had not informed her of ahead of time.

There was only one bed.

"How in the hell are Giselle and I supposed to work with this?" Bambietta stomped a foot in frustration, her lips curling back as her vision wavered. "Oh, that sneaky bastard probably wants me to go back and pay for a second room! Well hell, screw that!"

Bambietta felt she would simply have to tough it out. She locked the door behind her, glancing to make sure that all the window shades were down. The quincy then moved over to the bed, opening up her suitcase on it. She glanced over the few articles of clothing she had packed up in the ice palace, selecting the appropriate nightwear. Yet then did her eyes focus on one other item she had packed away, a sword sheathed in a scabbard. It was an odd item to keep, Bambietta remembering well the shinigami who the zanpakuto had belonged to. A dead man she could never forgive, yet now she was trying to find a place for such feelings in her heart.

Growing irritated, Bambietta shut the suitcase hard, turning her attention to getting dressed for the evening. As she got changed, she continued to glance at the bed, knowing that it would not be a first for herself and Giselle, remembering well how she had slept upon the floor of Giselle's room upon her request. It was a surprisingly fond memory to the quincy, Bambietta recalling how Giselle had entrusted with her a secret that none of the other quincy save Yhwach knew.

Then did Bambietta cringe, remembering what she had called Giselle at the fortress not a few hours earlier. The quincy sighed then as she removed her belt and stared at the worn, heart shaped buckle. Bambietta bit her lower lip slightly, growing angry with herself, and began to finish her preparations for the evening.

Soon did Bambietta stand in the room of the Tabijinohate motel, dressed in her choice of pink pajamas. Once it had not been her kind of color, but it had grown on her in recent years. Once more did the quincy pick up her belt, her eyes staring directly at the buckle, her thoughts still dwelling on the past. She sighed then and placed the item in her suitcase, closing it off for now. Bambietta was about to slip into the bed and underneath the covers, truly desperate for some sleep, when she heard a knock at the door. She knew who it had to be, so she quickly made her way over and opened the doorway.

Giselle came into view and Bambietta could not help herself. She burst into a fit of laughter, her reserved composure completely shattered. From Giselle's mouth hung a cheeseburger, her hands far too preoccupied by the large paper bag she was holding with the both of them.

Giselle's face went red slightly and she quickly raised up her hands, pushing the bag to Bambietta. Despite her situation, Giselle nodded her approval. Bambietta forced off her laughter and took hold of the bag and glanced inside. That gave Giselle the chance to grab hold of the burger and remove it from her mouth. "I picked up some of those things from the local convenience store. I figured they might help with how tuckered out you said you were."

"What... what are they?" Bambietta asked, staring the pile of what appeared to be little red bottles in the bag.

"Energy drinks, I think," Giselle answered as she stepped into the room, closing and locking the door behind her. "The advertising says they'll give us wings."

Bambietta chuckled then, if only slightly. "Wings, huh?" The quincy missed her powers so very much. The Explode had given her the strength to stand for herself, the Voll Stern Dich had made her a veritable angel. Now, however, she was just a simple Quincy, nothing more. "Giselle, do you miss your schrift?"

"No." Giselle's answer was blunt in its execution. "That man... he said it would fill the void of my heart, just as he did to us all, but it was nothing worth having. I... I hate that power I had."

"That's what I thought," Bambietta said in return, glancing down at the energy drinks. She smiled again, her laughter echoing in the room. "Energy drinks, huh? I hope they taste better than Yhwach's blood did, you silly little girl."

Giselle smiled in response, happy that her purchase had brought a smile to her friend's face, as well as her heart. While she did not miss the Zombie, she knew that Bambietta had cherished her strength. "Your schrift was so much fun though. You remember that time you got the hiccups?"

"Don't remind me," Bambietta replied sheepishly.

Giselle giggled slightly. "Every time you hiccupped, something would end up exploding whether you wanted it to or not. I thought Yhwach and Haschwalth were going to lose their minds after you very nearly leveled the palace. And you..." Giselle laughed hard then, making it difficult to get the question out. "Do you remember how Lil and the others tried to cure you and save the Wandenreich?"

"Yeah, I remember." Bambietta clutched at her stomach a little, the memories coming back to you. "You all forced As Nodt into my room, thinking he could scare the hiccups right out of me. The guy could barely say boo because he was so scared of my schrift. Then I..." Bambietta grew red in the face, recalling well how she had hiccupped right in front of her fellow Quincy. "Poor bastard was out of commission for weeks!"

Giselle and Bambietta both burst into laughter then, the memory of it far too much for them. For a few short minutes it continued until at last Giselle began to compose herself and speak. "You're my angel, Bambi. Vollstandig or not."

Bambietta's laughter slowed then too, her gaze shifting towards Giselle. The younger of the two was unsure of what to make of the stare, so she did what she could, quickly devouring her cheeseburger as fast as humanly possible.

"Let's get some rest." Bambietta said no more then, simply placing the bag down on the nearest table and crawling on to the bed. She moved the two pillows to opposite sides and rested her head against one, keeping her back to the center of the mattress. She was simply so tired she did not even bother to pull the blanket up over herself.

Giselle was not sure what to make of the silence. She simply moved towards her own side, flipping off the light and crawling on to the bed despite her having not changed into any pajamas. She too kept her back to Bambietta, wondering why she had gotten so quiet all of a sudden. There were no words then, Giselle simply lost in her own thoughts.

Until, at last, she heard a rather audible snore echo across the motel room. The quincy smirked slightly, happy to hear that some things would never, ever change. She glanced over her shoulder, to look at Bambietta one last time before falling asleep. Giselle swore she had truly turned the lights off but she could see a faint glow in the corner of her eyes. She turned all the way around then.

Giselle's eyes widened at the sight of it. Faint blue lines of light were etched into the skin of Bambietta, glowing right through her pajamas. Across her back, down her arm and legs. Underneath the cast darkness the light shone so brightly, as if Bambietta was a star herself. Giselle knew what it was, though she could scarcely recall a time she had seen it cast so fiercely.

"Blut vene..."

Bambietta's reiryoku was coursing through her very veins, strengthening her skin, making her resistant to any attack. Giselle could only guess it being used so recklessly was the precise reason why Bambietta was so incredibly tired. However, the quincy could not understand why she would use such a power if they were not under attack or in the thick of battle.

Then did it dawn on Giselle.

She was the reason. She had to be. Bambietta had offered her forgiveness back in the deserted palace but she was clearly still cautious. Giselle had betrayed her once, had ended her life with her own two hands. Despite their apparent reconciliation, Giselle could clearly see now that her friend was not taking even the slightest chance, no matter how much it was taxing her.

"Bambi, I..." Giselle turned over then, unable to stare at the light of condemnation that was Bambietta's blut vene. A tear slipped down Giselle's face as her eyes closed, the woman trying so very hard to force herself to fall asleep. Giselle was unsure what hope there was, but the blissful ignorance of sleep seemed to be the only relief she might find from what she was experiencing now. "Bambi, you... changed. I made you change..."

Giselle was simply restless then, the quincy unable to find that possible respite. She wanted it, desired it, but she could not will herself into a state of rest. It was then that she could only curse trying out one of those energy drinks before coming back to the hotel.

Nonetheless did she force her eyes closed, hoping that would help do the trick. However it was in that precise moment that the quincy felt something in the air. A malevolent presence working its way through the reishi around her. Giselle felt her heart very nearly skip a beat in response and she forced her eyes to open in response. The cruel intentions of one being were all but bearing down upon her.

No, Giselle could tell it truly. Not something but several things were responsible for the dark desires. It was familiars source of power, one that was dramatically opposed to the very nature of the quincy.

"Hollows?" Giselle sat up with a start, her panic setting in. "Bambi, I think we may have a problem!"

There was no response issued forth with words, only more snoring. Giselle turned quickly then, staring at her ally. The traces of blut vene were no longer present; either a sign that Bambietta had lost focus in sleep or her reiryoku was ebbing. Giselle was not sure which option was the explanation but she knew for certain that Bambietta had overexerted herself with the constant technique all because of her. It was no wonder she was in such a deep slumber that she was not even sensing the approaching hollows.

"Get up, Bambi! Please!" Giselle kneeled over her friend, gently pushing against her back, causing her sleeping body to rock slightly. Despite her time as a Stern Ritter, Giselle knew her fighting talent was less than exemplary. She knew how to employ the basics of being a Quincy, yes, but she had relied quite heavily on the Zombie. Either to use others to fight for her or to depend on her regeneration to recover from wounds a more proficient quincy would never have experienced. It was Bambietta that was the better of the two. "Bambi! Please! Save me!"

All Giselle received in response was yet another snore.

"What do we have here? Such tiny frames but I sense much spirit in you girls."

Giselle froze at the sound of the raspy voice. Slowly she turned and could see it, the curtains of the window moving to the sides, pulled as if by an invisible force. Then it came into focus. Staring through the glass of the window was a stark white mask, the hollow's red eyes blazing with sadistic delight at what prey it had found. The window began to rattle then, before at last flying open. Cold air breathed into the room, chilling Giselle as she felt the hairs on the back of the nape of her neck stand up.

"You little darling," the hollow said as it began to move its masked visage through the window, "give me a screa-"

The beast never got the chance to finish its demand. A blue arrow of pure power suddenly slammed into its left eye, the red light fading as the hollow unleashed a roar of anguished agony. Giselle tilted her head slightly; her lips curling back slyly as she took in the sound. She lowered her right arm then, still keeping the small glowing crossbow within the palm of her hand. The sound of the hollow, it was euphoric to her, like music to her ears. The pain of one she had no love for left them perking up slightly. "Oh, that was a good one. Maybe now I'll let you hear mine. Show me yours, show you mine."

The roar of the hollow was what it took at last to force Bambietta to finally awaken. She shot up in the bed and turned, taking note of the hollow that was backing away from the window, blood spurting from a socket in its mask, a blue arrow fading away into the ether. "This better be a nightmare."

"Bambi?" Giselle turned, her cruel expression shifting to one of relief and joy. She quickly wrapped her arms around the woman, very nearly sending them both off the bed and to the floor. "Bambi! You've got to kill them! Kill them all! Please!"

"All?" Bambietta was unsure of what Giselle was getting at. "There's only one-"

Then it hit Bambietta, her spiritual senses awakening to match her mind and body. She had been tired, had she not? To not notice what she did now, it was unacceptable to her. There were a few traces of reiatsu outside, all of them tainted by malicious intent that clearly wished to intimidate its prey. Hollows. So many hollows. That was the least of Bambietta's problems, however.

She could see it then, a hand flying in through the window, an ever lengthening arm preceding it. She was caught off guard, but not enough to be unable to react in some small measure. Bambietta shoved Giselle to the side, throwing her to the floor hard. Then the fingers wrapped around Bambietta's head. The Quincy grasped at the fingers with her own, but it was to no avail.

"Bambi!" Giselle watched in horror as the arm suddenly receded, dragging Bambietta out through the window in the blink of an eye. She crawled forward a bit. "I won't let you have her..." Giselle forced herself to stand then, her voice cracking. "Give her back to me!"


	4. The Real Geisterjager

**Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Shonen Jump.**

* * *

To Bambietta, the world was only darkness. Air was whipping about her, the palm of a hollow's hand pressing firmly against her face. She cursed under her breath, the uncontrolled motion of her body irritating her to no end. Then it suddenly stopped, her body falling limp, her bare feet unable to make contact with the ground. She kicked wildly then, gripping on the hand that held her with both of her own.

"Well, well, aren't you a feisty one!" a voice coated in venom called out. "Is this the one that shot your eye out?"

"No, that one was definitely dressed like a quincy! I don't know what's with the cute little pink number this one is sporting!"

"A quincy? There's a quincy in there? We better devour this soul and get the hell out of here!"

"Are you serious? What the hell do we have to worry from a stupid thing like that?"

"What, you didn't hear? These bastards took over Hueco Mundo and very nearly destroyed the Soul Society! It's better we cut our loses, take this soul and save ourselves!"

Bambietta was not quite happy to hear about the conflict with the Soul Society, bitter memories at the surface of her thoughts, but she was thrilled to know that these hollows had a fear for her kind. That would just make her goal so much easier to obtain. "So you're scared of a little old quincy, are you?"

Bambietta reached up with a hand, allowing blut arterie to activate. She gripped down on one of the fingers wrapped around her skull and with a quick motion tore it clean off from the hollow's hand. She could hear it, the snapping of bone, the tearing of flesh, and soon after the screaming of the hollow. The monster's grip loosened and Bambietta fell to the pavement. She put some distance between herself and the hollow, stepping back with hirenkyaku, and stared down the lot of them.

"Nine in total, huh?"

Bambietta eyed the beasts from left to right then, taking note of the strange monsters before her. It was a curious lot, a fair amount of them reptilian in shape, standing on all fours, another simply snake like in its appearance. At least three of them seemed to correlate with what little Bambietta remembered learning about dinosaurs when she was but a child. Oh, how she had been fascinated by such creatures. Their power awe inspiring, standing atop the food chain.

Then there were the oddities, particularly the hollow that appeared soft to the touch, as if it was made from marshmallow of all things. If not for the dire circumstances that she was in, Bambietta would no doubt have laughed at such a sight. Then another appeared more as a fanged, upright turtle of all things. Yet another was an odd beast, with no legs to speak of, only a tail extending past its waist. As if to partially make up for its lack of lower limbs, it very clearly possessed three arms positioned in an asymmetrical fashion, two on its left side.

Then there were the last two, clearly the most imposing of the lot. The first of the hollows was similar to a dinosaur yet again, standing upright on its massive hind legs. Across its spine and down its tail were several jagged spikes, ones that made Bambietta cringe. The other appeared very much as a gorilla and it was staring down at its damaged hand, the finger that Bambietta had torn off missing.

Despite it all, Bambietta was not impressed. She simply rose her right arm up, outstretching her hands. Reiryoku began to coalesce in her palm, a curved broadsword appearing as if from thin air. She gripped down on the weapon's handle, whipping it through the air before pointing its end towards the collection of hollows. "I am Bambietta Basterbine, Stern Ritter E of his majesty's Wandenreich. Before you stands a quincy!"

She could see the hollow's on edge then, a sign that Bambietta appreciated. She had learned much during the battle in the Soul Society, but none was more staggering than the truth she had gleaned from a now dead shinigami. While their strength could purify a hollow and preserve the natural order, a quincy could only destroy the spirit of such beings. She had reveled in violence, in slaying both shinigami and hollows alike, but that inconvenient truth made it much harder for her to simply go all out against foes such as this. Bambietta knew she had a tool, one she had taken from that very same dead shinigami, that would make up for that particular problem, but it was in her suitcase back in the motel room. Standing down foes such as this, weak as they were, made slipping away for more appropriate armament an impossibility. She could only hope now that she could force them to run in fear at the power behind her former stature in the Wandenreich.

"Kick their asses, Bambi!"

Bambietta glanced quickly and could see Giselle in the doorway of the motel room, no doubt awakening all those trying to sleep this evening. What a spectacle they would wake up to, no doubt. A woman in her pajamas, brandishing a sword and tossing idle threats at monsters invisible to the naked eye. She was inclined to end this quick then, continuing to try her best to intimidate the hollows.

"I am giving you this one chance. Leave us now and I will let you live to see another sunset. Fight me and the cost will be your eternal souls. The choice is yours."

Bambietta watched as the strange collection of hollows conversed with one and another, leaving her quite wary. They were well organized for mere hollows, leaving her to wonder if they were working under one that dwarfed their own strength. Then, as if to confirm her suspicions, the quincy suddenly felt a massive amount of reiryoku approaching, an unbearable pressure coming down upon her. Giselle could feel it as well, the two women looking up just in time to see another hollow arrive on the scene.

It descended from the sky, landing behind the others. Its body was similar to that of a massive bird, covered in feathers. Its neck was very nearly the length of the rest of its form, its white mask at the end and curved like a beak. The creature was no bigger than the other hollows, but its reiatsu was another matter altogether. If Bambietta could compare the others to fighter jets, then this newcomer's spiritual power was as big as a battleship.

"An adjuchas?" Bambietta had never expected to see a hollow of that stature here in the mortal world, but it did explain why these others were working together. They were under its command.

Giselle, meanwhile, was not so impressed. She was pointing at the Hollow, very nearly giggling. "That... that mohawk it s got... it'd give Bazz-B a run for his money! What was it thinking?"

The Adjuchas said nothing, trying its best to ignore the flagrant disrespect. "So you are both of the Wandenreich, are you?" it asked, glaring at Bambietta. "Then we have nothing to fear from a paper tiger! Your king is dead, your threats idle, girls!"

Bambietta could tell her bluff had been called, her troubles only beginning. She had not counted on being confronted by an adjuchas from Hueco Mundo. It was no surprise that it would know that the Wandenreich had been defeated, the realm of the hollows freed from its control. This she knew would be a problem. Despite the slight amount of rest she had gotten, she was still drained from the near constant use of blut vene. Deep down Bambietta had questioned if it was a necessary action around Giselle, but she had been quite worried all the same. She had felt it in her heart, that by keeping the woman close she was entreating death itself once more.

Bambietta was beginning to wish she had gotten a chance to taste one of those energy drinks before being dragged outside. She was not sure if it would have actually done much for her reiyoku but it would have at least made her senses more alert for a while. The past was the past, however, and she knew she would have to face down this horde utilizing nothing but her reserves. The quincy tools she had procured were still in the suitcase she had brought to the living world. All she had were her more basic abilities then, nothing else.

"Bambi, let me help-"

"Stay back!"

Bambietta was not inclined to let Giselle in on this fight, not at all. She had yet to tell Giselle of what a quincy's power did to a Hollow, so she would not risk her adding to the sins of their kind any more than she had already. More importantly however was the simple fact that Giselle had never been quite adapt at direct combat situations. The Zombie had made up for that fact on the battlefield in truly disturbing ways, but that strength was no more. This was a fight Bambietta felt that she would have to fight on her own.

Still, the quincy tried her best to make up for her brusque tone, glancing over her shoulder slightly to cast a warm smile towards Giselle. "As your leader, it's my duty to be your sword and shield, right?"

She saw a slight smile on Giselle's face then, one that was as abrupt as it was hesitant.

"So you offer up your soul first, do you?" the adjuchas asked, a slight cackle following its question. "Admirable, but foolish. Both your souls will belong to the Brobdingnagian Talon!"

"That's... quite possibly the stupidest hollow name I've ever heard of," Bambietta replied, raising her eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously, you look so ridiculous with that mohawk and those big goofy eyes on your mask... and now that name-"

The Brobdingnagian Talon said nothing, instead making what was very much the single most annoying battle cry that either Bambietta or Giselle had ever heard in their lives. The nine hollows under its command began to move, but Bambietta was one step ahead of them. Her main goal had been to scare them into running off, but now that push had come to shove in the form of the adjuchas, she was more than willing to resort to violence if need be.

Bambietta could see it then, the jagged plates of the bottom heavy hollow's back and tail coming alight with power. The Quincy braced herself and quickly leapt back as a beam of pale blue energy exploded from the creature's mouth, tearing asunder the pavement where she had just stood. She was tired yes, but Bambietta was getting into the zone as she liked to refer to it. Fighting, it was what she lived for, something she had worked to excel at for a long, long time. Few would consider her a genius in most aspects of life, Bambietta her own chief critic, but so long as she was not flipping out and running on pure emotion, she could think a few steps ahead. Now that the simple solution of the Explode was no longer an option she was falling back on old lessons that had been drilled into her young head by her former superiors.

Her lost strength having been born from a piece of his soul, Yhwach had taught her the more esoteric points of the both the vollstandig and the Explode. Jugram Haschwalth had given to her the fine art of swordplay. Bazz-B had forcibly instructed her in the ways of hand to hand combat. Robert Accutrone's gift had been the precise usage of hirenkyaku, blut and other unique techniques of the quincy.

She was keeping her calm, allowing her mind to crunch the numbers. She did not want to eradicate these hollows but if it came down to either them or herself and Giselle, she knew what choice she would easily make. She would fight to win, simple as that. However, she hoped to minimize those casualties, which was precisely why she was refraining from the destructive force of her spiritual arrows. Her the blade of her sword was a much more precise weapon for what she had in mind. Bambietta knew that killing the adjuchas would no doubt force its subordinates into retreat, but the quincy also knew full well that such a menos class hollow was formed from the hundreds if not thousands of souls that it had consumed in its lifetime. She had killed them before, but only in her ignorance. To destroy it now would be tantamount to willful genocide. The others, however, were no doubt recently turned humans. Killing them would be too cruel as well. Bambietta also knew that there was no guarantee that even slaying all of them would force the more powerful adjuchas to leave.

No, the quincy knew what she had to do. She had to savagely wound the adjuchas, to prove her dominance and to force it to call out a retreat. If that did not work, then fine, she would have to murder it and all the souls that it housed. Bambietta knew it well enough, that she had already committed the ultimate sin more than once and she would do it again if need be. Only now it would hurt her as nearly as much as the hollow.

Flames suddenly burst forth from the turtle Hollow's mouth but Bambietta was too quick, evading it with some simple footwork. However she suddenly saw something else in the corner of her eye, some kind of green slime expelling from the snake hollow's mouth. She dodged the reptile's attack fast and with the utmost grace that her overtired mind and body could afford, watching as the strange substance burned into the ground.

"No, you did not shoot that green shit at me!"

Bambietta was uninterested in having a true battle with such inane forces such as this. She let her body become consumed with blut arterie again, increasing her offensive capabilities. Then she disappeared in a flash of hirenkyaku. The hollows could not keep up, save for the sdjuchas itself perhaps, but Giselle was able to trace Bambietta's movements clearly, her familiarity with the technique aiding her well.

The pajama clad quincy appeared in flashes of pink besides each of the nine hollows, her short broadsword at the ready. She made quick, precise cuts, drawing blood in each and every instant, but leaving Giselle confused in the process. Bambietta had them all at her mercy, so why was she not taking advantage and dealing fatal blows? The most she was doing was targeting non-vital areas, as if trying to cause pain and nothing else. Giselle had to remind herself that she was, at least in her own estimates, not a sadist at heart, so she was unable to comprehend Bambietta's battle tactics.

Brobdingnagian Talon was different from its fellow hollows, however. The adjuchas was able to perceive the tired quincy's movements better than the rest, her step sluggish compared to what it could have been. Still, the creature was unnerved as Bambietta appeared between itself and the others. The wounded hollow began to collapse and cry out in pain, blood splattering about as Bambietta stood firm. She whipped out her sword arm to the side, trace amounts of red liquid leaving its purchase on the blade and moving through the air before her face. Bambietta gave Brobdingnagian Talon a narrow stare them, trying to psyche out the monstrosity.

"Even a paper tiger can cause paper cuts."

It was perhaps not the ideal battle chatter but Bambietta knew she was running on fumes of all sorts. She pushed herself again, disappearing from sight once more. The adjuchas was ready for a fatal attack, prepared to guard its torso, neck and head. It began to form a cero in its beak, ready to annihilate the quincy as she would no doubt appear before it. The beast all but knew that the blast would destroy the hollows under its command but that was a sacrifice that the Brobdingnagian Talon was willing to make. It would simply give it a chance to eat their remains and grow stronger still, nothing more, nothing less.

It was then that the adjuchas could feel the air shift above and behind it. The Brobdingnagian Talon turned its long neck then, realizing that it had been had but it was too late. "Oldest trick in the book." Bambietta fell then from the empty spot in the air besides the Brobdingnagian Talon's long neck that she now occupied. She brought her sword to bear, its edge cleaving through muscle and bone, feather and sinew. Her movement only stopped with the heavy sound of her blade striking the parking lot pavement of the motel, the Brobdingnagian Talon's right wing falling to the ground with a spray of blood.

"You witch!" the adjuchas cried out, it's voice creaking with agony. "What have you done?"

"This is your last chance," Bambietta said as she used the hastened movement of a quincy to dash up on to the adjuchas back before it could react. She grabbed its long neck with one hand and placed the blade of her sword against its throat. "Call off your monster buddies and maybe, just maybe, I'll let you live long enough to retreat to Hueco Mundo and lick your wounds."

Another bluff but Bambietta knew she had to play the part of a cold hearted maniac if she wanted to end this battle without further bloodshed, without any souls being destroyed. Deep down she had to suppose this was not too far from the truth. There was truth blended in with her lies, the perfect form of deception. She had lusted for battle as a Stern Ritter, all smiles as she was cutting down foes. She was merciless but never cold and calculating. However, Bambietta knew no shinigami had run from a fight when her true persona was on full display, so she had to hope this falsification would make the adjuchas err on the side of caution.

"Now give me what I want," she cooed. "And no sudden moves. I'd hate for you to go and lose your head around me..."

The adjuchas said nothing, instead insisting on calling Bambietta's bluff again. The quincy could hear it, see it, feel it. A red energy was forming in the beak of the Brobdingnagian Talon, a telltale sign that it was preparing another cero. Bambietta looked up hesitantly and took note of the adjuchas' eyes, their gaze guiding Bambietta towards Giselle.

"Kill me if you wish," the Brobdingnagian Talon cackled, "but I'll take your friend with me!"

Friend. It was a word Bambietta had believed in long ago. One that had given her purpose in life. In the end, however, it had proven to be nothing more than a gateway to betrayal. Joy and relief turned to misery and pain in a moment of absolute weakness. She had to wonder then if she was a fool for giving such a word a second chance. She had approached it with trepidation now but still the quincy was risking her life for that word's true definition.

The cero fired then, the orb of death descending upon the terrified and unmoving Giselle.

Bambietta's eyes locked with Giselle's own, the targeted young lady exhibiting nothing but fear. For a moment the horrified face blurred and in a flash shifted and contorted, a bitter memory dredging up from Bambietta's memories. She saw it then. A cold expression tinged with a cruel smile. It flashed again then, leaving Bambietta to see nothing more than a young girl who had been both shy and demure, seeking nothing but the comfort of love.

_"Can you stay by my side?"_

It all happened in a brief moment, leaving Bambietta to weigh the betrayer against the friend. She bit down on her lower lip, no longer thinking. Her face began to contort with equal parts confusion and frustration. Bambietta knew it in her heart, that it was a decision that was made years ago, requiring no further debate.

"Fuck!"

Bambietta disappeared from the Brobdingnagian Talon's back in a flash, outpacing the cero and appearing before Giselle through the power of hirenkyaku. Giselle felt her friend's arms wrap around her for a moment, tighter than she had ever experienced in the past. Then the hold loosened, the cero slamming into Bambietta's back with such force that both she and Giselle were thrown into the outer wall of the motel. Bambietta cried out in pain then, blood spilling out from her mouth and splattering against the wooden frame. She still held tight to Giselle, gasping in pain.

"Bambi?" Giselle felt her heart beating rapidly, but nowhere near as much as Bambietta's. Their chests pressed together. She could feel the beats of Bambietta's heart, the organ struggling to pump blood at an alarming rate. Glancing down, Giselle cringed slightly as she saw the smoke whisking off of Bambietta's back. Her pajama top had been singed terribly, torn apart and exposing the bloody and seared flesh underneath. The traces of blut vene began to intensify then, no doubt having been the one thing to save Bambietta and Giselle's lives. Now it was going into overtime to heal stop the blood from flowing outwards.

"I... told you..." Bambietta whispered, not even sure anymore what she was doing. "Sword and... shield..."

"That was unexpected," the Brobdingnagian Talon said with clear delight. "Yet it shall be a sacrifice made in vain. You are wounded and weak now, girl. I shall be taking both your sou-"

The Adjuchas never got the chance to finish its statement, an arrow of blue light piercing its Hollow mask, shattering it and tearing through the flesh underneath. Then did the Brobdingnagian Talon's body fall to the parking lot pavement, unmoving as it began to fade away.

"Who said... I'm weak?" Bambietta rasped, holding in her unsteady hands a glowing sword, her charred back facing Giselle. Then, without her consent or approval, her legs gave out on her. Bambietta's spirit weapon faded from existence as she dropped to her knees, her hands planting firmly against the pavement as she breathed painful breath after painful breath. "There's another... couple of thousand sins to add... to my tally..."

"Bambi!" Giselle crouched down beside her injured friend, gingerly placing one arm across her shoulders. Despite the mistrust, she had taken the proverbial bullet for her. Giselle knew she should have been overjoyed by the concern, but to see Bambietta in the state she was in now was too much for her. "You.. You... Why?"

Bambietta paid Giselle no attention for the moment, casting her gaze instead on the nine remaining hollows. They were clearly in shock at the death of their powerful leader. She had to hope they would have the sense to retreat now. They conversed among themselves, fear and confusion evident in their voices.

"She killed the boss... so easily!"

"Knew we should have run when we had the chance!"

Bambietta knew it then. Sins be damned, she had made the right choice.

"But look at her. She's out of it."

Then Bambietta understood more than she had cared to. It would not go so easily. It never did. The nine hollows turned towards her and Giselle, confident in their chances of victory. They all began to move forward then, their pacing slow, methodically and torturous in its execution.

"It's time," the gorilla hollow hissed, "for a feast..."

"No!" Giselle screamed, hugging Bambietta tighter. Then they both vanished from sight, the younger of the quincy employing hirenkyaku.

"Run, yes," the gorilla hollow laughed, staring at the wound Bambietta had scored on it.

"We'll find you," the turtle Hollow joined in, blood still oozing from the wound Giselle had scored on one of its eyes. "You haven't lived until you've experienced being hunted by me!"

* * *

Giselle had not escaped in any concentrated pattern, her movements erratic and unrestrained as she pulled the injured Bambietta along. They finally arrived in yet another secluded spot of Karakura Town, right on the edge of a river. Giselle lay Bambietta down gently on the inclined ground, allowing the grass to cushion her.

Bambietta gasped wildly. Her wounds were no longer bleeding thanks to blut vene stopping the flow of the vital liquid but she was still in pain. She lay there helpless then, watching as Giselle began to stand over her. It should have been nothing but a momentary flash played across the mind's eye that belonged to the quincy. Imagination overpowering reality, Bambietta could see Giselle's concerned face morph into one of cold inevitability. Then there was that cruel, unnatural smile.

_"Poor Bambi. We'll help you. We'd be... lonely without you. I mean it."_

"Get away! Get away!" The vision faded, leaving the present Giselle in the place of the bitter memory, but it was too late. Bambietta was in near hysterics. She began to back away from Giselle, her emotional and physical pain bringing tears to her eyes. "I want to live, damn you! Live!"

"Bambi?" Giselle brought both her hands up to her face, her own soul plagued in despair at what she was seeing, what she was hearing. The quincy knew full well what the meaning was behind it all, her past catching up with her again and again. "Bambi, I-"

"Please, please..." Bambietta whimpered, tears streaming down her face. "Just let me live..."

Giselle felt sick to her stomach then, revulsion washing over her. She clutched at her lower face with one hand, covering her mouth as she tried to fight the urge to vomit in disgust. There was a part of her, a part of her that was finding a twisted satisfaction in the display before her. To see someone in such anguish, it truly was a symphonic opera to the darkest parts of her soul.

"No, no..." Giselle whispered then, knowing full well the cruelty that was etched into her very heart. She could not deny it, having indulged in it so many times in the past, but now she could find no pleasure in it. She simply could not allow that. "Bambi, I... I'm so..."

Giselle tentatively reached out with a right hand, but she quickly took notice that it was the wrong move. Bambietta's eyes widened in fear. "Stay back, please! I beg you!"

Giselle's hand shook and stopped then. "Bambi, I'm so... I'm so sorry..."

Giselle's face became awash with tears then as she stared at the panic that was overwhelming Bambietta's face and body. Overridden by despair, Giselle collapsed to her knees in front of Bambietta, unsure of what she could say or do to make things right.

Bambietta stared back in return, her thoughts finally coalescing into a stable form. "Giselle..."

Bambietta began to hate herself then, for acting like a terrified child. It was so unlike her, she knew that much, but Giselle had done too much to her. Now, despite their partnership, it was becoming clear to Bambietta that all they could do was hurt each other. Was this their fate? Was this all that was left for them now?

Bambietta could not, would not allow that to be. She had taken Giselle under her wing so long ago. Any actions the younger quincy took, no matter who they were directed at or how cruel or violent in their execution, were Bambietta's responsibility. She had been raised as a monster of the Vandenreich and in turn had raised another in the same fashion. This was her responsibility. She had taught Giselle everything she knew. She had made her what she was today.

Bambietta cringed in pain as she forced herself to sit up then, her breathing out of control as she made it up to her knees. She began to reach out towards Giselle with both arms then, leaving the young lady to wonder if perhaps Bambietta was going to attempt to strangle her, to choke the life out of her as she had tried in the Wandenreich's abandoned fortress not that long ago.

Giselle gasped then as Bambietta's arms wrapped around her torso in a close embrace. Giselle's chin held high above Bambietta's left shoulder as the other woman leaned into Giselle herself.

"You can't tell me..." Bambietta wheezed, her voice lowering with each syllable. "You can't tell me that this is how it ends! You just can't! Not... not for us..."

Giselle flinched for a moment, her tears intensifying. Not out of complete sorrow, joy mingling with that emotion. Her face fell upon Bambietta's shoulder. "It's going to be... it's going to be okay..."

The two stayed still for moments then, the only sound around them their own sobbing and the movement of the water washing up against the riverbank. Bambietta felt it then, deep in her breast. She would no longer place such distrust in Giselle. She would no longer rely on blut vene around her every waking moment. Such anxiety, such mistrust and paranoia had no place in their mutual road to redemption.

"Awww, isn't this sweet?"

The two Quincy could feel it then, the familiar and malevolent power of the hollows. They both glanced up the grassy knoll and could see it, the nine monsters staring down at them.

"You thought you could run from us?" asked the dinosaur-like hollow with the jagged plates lining its back, its voice sounding almost like a leather glove being dragged across the strings of a bass instrument. "How entertaining and futile!"

Giselle suddenly stood up then, her face showing clear defiance. "I'll kill you."

"What was that?" the gorilla hollow asked.

"You want to hurt Bambi?" she asked again, a low snicker escaping from her mouth. "Then I'll kill every last one of you bastards!"

"Giselle, you can't..." Bambietta watched as a small bow appeared in Giselle's hands. "Giselle!"

Then did a hail of blue arrows suddenly rain down from the heavens, piercing the hollows over and over again, blood sputtering out from the puncture wounds that formed in response. With roars of pain did the group of corrupted souls then fade away, their existence nothing more than a thing of the past. Bambietta forced herself to stand then, shoulder to shoulder by Giselle despite her wounds, and simply looked on in confusion.

"Giselle?"

"It wasn't me," the young lady said, simply shrugging. "You?"

"Do I look like I was in any shape to do... whatever that was?"

The two quincy could suddenly hear footsteps approaching them and soon enough they were greeted by four figures. The individuals were gaudily dressed to say the least, their matching outfits far more flamboyant than any either Bambietta or Giselle had ever laid eyes upon. They did not recognize the mustached man at all, but the three women by his side did the two former Stern Ritter recognize quite well.

Candice Catnipp. Liltotto Lamperd. Meninas McAllon. There they all were, the trio's eyes going wide with shock as they took notice of Bambietta and Giselle. The duo did the same in return, very nearly about to speak in light of their sudden reunion. However, it was then that the mustached man completely broke up the moment, his voice bellowing across the area.

"Who you going to call when the spirits are always with you? Don Kanonji's Geisterjager! Bwa ha ha ha ha!"


	5. Friends Forever

**Disclaimer: Bleach and all related characters belong to Shonen Jump.**

* * *

Towards the center of Karakura Town there was a nondescript building. For some time it had been abandoned, having been discarded by the local fire department when they had moved on to a new location, one that was the perfect trifecta of evolution. Bigger, better and more well equipped. The old facility was left to gather nothing but dust and cobwebs then. A relic of the past, a ghost, a specter. Thus had it been perfect for Don Kanonji's needs.

He had considered himself an expert in his field of the supernatural, turning it into a profitable television series while he was at it. Helping the dearly departed was a kindness, he knew that, but it also needed to pay the bills. Yet as time went on did Don Kanonji come to the realization that he was a fool of sorts, a small fish in an infinite pond. First there had been a spiky haired boy in black garb who had clued in him into the truth of the afterlife. Not long after that had Don Kanonji found himself face to face with what he had only been able to ascribe the title of a malevolent god. By faith and good fortune had he and the citizens of Karakura Town survived that fateful ordeal, saved by the very same spiky haired youth, but for Don Kanonji it was the end of his old life and the start of something new. For very nearly two years he had drowned his sorrows, his powerlessness, at every bar he came across in Karakura Town. He stopped going to work, his show falling out of favor with the Japanese public and quickly being cancelled. He then took on odd jobs at random, though the majority of it had been based on lies and fabrications. He had taken advantage of the less spiritual aware, allowing them to think he was cleansing dark spirits from their homes, hauntings that were no more based in truth than his own bravado.

Then they had appeared. Three young ladies who were looking for work. One of them had professed her undying love of his show. She was a cute one, if not the sharpest knife in the draw, but her appreciation of his work had been something that brought a smile to Don Kanonji's face for the first time in so very long. The other two were less than cordial by comparison, one eerily quiet and the other clearly possessing a chip on her shoulder a mile wide. The kindest of the trio had said that they did possess a fair amount of money at the present but that due to unforeseen circumstances they were looking for work that would benefit their skills in the spiritual.

It had been a chance meeting, but one that led to newfound passion in Don Kanonji's life. He had convinced the three ladies to allow him to use their remaining funds to buy a derelict headquarters for their operations, the fire department in question. From there they had begun a small business in Karakura Town, dealing with not just the spiritual but the infestation of hollows that plagued the small city. No longer did Don Kanonji feel weak and powerless, having the unyielding strength of the three girls backing him up.

Another successful case of vanquishing hollows behind them, the Geisterjager had returned to the station, yet now things were different. Don Kanonji was left to his own devices downstairs, wondering what was going on. The two girls that he and the others had saved from a group of hollows had clearly recognized his charges, but his girls had recognized them in turn. The two, clearly hurt and disheveled from the hollow attack, had been brought back to their base of operations, the one in pink pajamas asking that the luggage she and her friend had left behind at their motel be retrieved.

His three apprentices more interested in the two young ladies, it had been left to Don Kanonji to do what they wished. He had arrived at the Tabijinohate motel, finding that the temporary residents, as well as the owner, were in shock due to the unseen battle with the hollows. The pavement had been torn up in places, damage done to the motel itself as well. Thankfully Don Kanonji was an expert at theatrics and was able to calm their shattered nerves by regaling them all with tales of how he had purged many a poltergeist. Once they had dispersed, he had recovered the belongings in Room E5 and returned to his home away from home.

His green haired apprentice had answered the knock at the upstairs door and had unceremoniously grabbed the two suitcases and the bag full of energy drinks from him. Then had the pink haired young lady who had originally sought him out thank Don Kanonji before the other one had slammed the door shut in his face. Now was Don Kanonji left alone at the front desk downstairs, wondering just what was going on with the five people under his roof.

"And I thought hollows were unpredictable..."

* * *

Bambietta Basterbine sat still in a chair now, hunched over slightly, her upper body on clear display as she had discarded her tattered pajama top. She was gritting her teeth, her scorched back still searing with agony from the cero she had taken for Giselle's sake.

"In my suitcase," she hissed through the pain, "there should be several ginto capsules."

Candice placed the suitcase down, propping it open and glancing through the articles of clothing and equipment present. "Well at least you've still got the white look down pat. I was starting to get worried you'd traded down for pink."

Bambietta raised an eye at that comment, knowing that Candice was looking for some leverage, some kind of hook to dig in with. It was not something Bambietta would permit. Despite her pain she took on a haughty and condescending tone, knowing full well it was the ideal language when dealing with Candice. "I'll have you know that pink is freaking adorable!"

Meninas, meanwhile, was quite distraught at Candice's words, but Bambietta's retort brought a smile to her face. "You think I'm adorable?"

Bambietta glanced at her old friend, her bubblegum pink hair standing out as it always did. Sighing slightly, Bambietta glared back towards Candice. "Little silver canister, Candi. And I'm not going to lie, the sooner the better, because this really stings!"

"Oh don't be such a big baby!" Candice said as she continued to look over the contents of the suitcase. It was then that she took notice of something rather peculiar inside. The quincy pulled what she had found free, holding a sheathed katana before her. "What the heck is this doing in here?"

"Oh that." Bambietta sighed as she momentarily forgot her pain. Now did her memories return to another topic she had little interest in discussing but knew that she would have to sooner or later. Candice had clearly made it a matter of sooner now. "It's just a souvenir I took on my way out of the Soul Society. Believe me, the shinigami doesn't have any more use for it. We do, however."

"And why would we want to use a filthy zanpakuto?" the green haired woman asked.

"Because," Bambietta began to explain, "our powers upset the balance by destroying hollows while that zanpakuto will purify them."

A silence hung over the room full of quincy then, none of them able to find the words to properly reply to what Bambietta had just said. Candice was simply trying to process what she had heard, Giselle in shock at the thought of more sins added to her tally, Liltotto simply lost in thought. Meninas, on the other hand, none could say for certain what she was thinking.

Finally , after several minutes of awkward silence, did one of them speak.

"You're lying," Candice said, her voice wavering. "Where the hell did you ever find out such a ridiculous theory?"

"From the shinigami that sword belonged to," Bambietta answered, unwilling to go further into detail of the confrontation she had experienced with him. "So I took that to make sure I could do things better from now on. And you all have to do the same. We can't... can't keep killing hollows like we have been."

Candice, despite her flaws, could understand exactly where Bambietta was coming from. Yet still was she caught in disbelief behind the nature of her powers as a quincy. All the she could do was act upon her natural defense mechanism. To that end she got angry. "And who said you were in charge?"

Bambietta was about to respond when Meninas interjected. "But his majesty told me personally that we were sending the souls of the Hollows to a world of lollipops and rainbows! Was he lying?"

Candice and Bambietta both looked at Meninas then, completely dumbfounded by her statement. Then they began to laugh, the two of them unable to stop picturing and hearing the deceased Yhwach speaking of such things.

"Oh, it hurts to laugh," Bambietta winced slightly. "Okay, enough of that. Candi, I could really use some healing."

"Fine, fine." Candice walked towards Bambietta, handing over one of the ginto capsules she had requested. She dropped it into Bambietta's open palm, then stood before her waiting. Candice watched as Bambietta gripped down tightly on the capsule, her eyes closing. Bambietta began to mumble then, chanting a little prayer. It was not something the green haired woman could recall seeing at any point in the past. "What the hell are you doing?"

Bambietta did not reply at first, finishing her spell instead. She then opened her eyes, glancing up at Candice. "Don't you remember our training?"

"I remember that bastard Yhwach drilling in my head about how to put the part of his soul he implanted into me to good use," Candice replied. Then quite suddenly did her tongue slip out from between her lips. It ran across them for a moment, her eyes lighting up. "Oh, and the hand to hand combat! Sparring with Bazz-B, grappling that bod of his! The sweat, the physical contact! Who says fire and lightning don't mix?"

"Okay, way too much information. And I'll be honest, I'm not sure if anyone has even spoke against that specific union in the first place." Bambietta turned away from Candice, having determined that she was not the ideal person when it came to a situation where a delicate touch was needed. "Meni?"

Bambietta's face dropped slightly, shock on her face as she got a good look at Meninas. The young lady's face was blushing a pretty pink, not far removed from her hair. "I'm adorable? She thinks I'm adorable? Me? Adorable? Oh my goodness!"

"Well, she's off on cloud nine." Bambietta could only turn towards Liltotto, the youngest of the group off in a corner with an ice pop in her mouth. "Lil, how about-"

"Nope, not interested," she replied quietly, cutting Bambietta off, "you dumb ass."

"Well, okay then." Bambietta's face twitched slightly, a spark of anger in her flaring. Then it faded as fast as it had come about, a chuckle escaping from her. Candice being boy crazy, Meninas being daft, Liltotto rude and detached. It was just like old times. Still, she also knew that she needed somebody to apply the liquid goodness in the ginto capsule. That was of high priority.

"Bambi, I can do it."

The quincy felt someone's hands on her own. She looked forward then, catching sight of Giselle.

"It's my fault," Giselle said, her face a little sour, "so it's only right I fix it, don't you think?"

Bambietta did not say anything at first, instead looking deep into Giselle's eyes. The whole point of coming to the mortal world was to find their friends. So why then was Giselle still looking so depressed? Bambietta knew full well the answer, though she simply did not want to admit it to herself. The battle with the hollows had no doubt been hard on Giselle, to see Bambietta hurt as she had been, but there was more to it than just that. Ever since they had been saved by Don Kanonji and the others, neither Candice nor Liltotto had spoken a word to Giselle. Meninas had tried but Candice had shut her down quick. Bambietta knew why, she understood why, but she had no use for it right now.

"Yeah, all right," Bambietta replied, glancing up at Giselle. She let her take the capsule then. "I've activated the spell, so all you have to do is rub that liquid onto my back and the healing process will begin. Just... be gentle."

"All right. If you trust me."

There it was, the question Bambietta had half-expected to hear. She answered it then with nary a trace of hesitation present in her voice. "I do, Gigi"

Bambietta watched as Giselle moved behind her, the older woman slowly grabbing hold of her long hair with one hand, pulling it all over her shoulder and exposing her back fully. Giselle starred at the scabbing, the burnt flesh, the dried blood. It was all because of her, she knew that well enough. If only she had been stronger, faster, then Bambietta would never have had to endure so much agony because of her.

So much because of her. Giselle stared long and hard at the wounds, recognizing their familiarity. She recalled it well, a broken angel descending from the heavens. Wings clipped, strength turned against her. Begging for help, grasping for any and every shred of life. Yet all Giselle had done in response was take it all from her, making that angel something that existed beyond the boundaries of life and death. Beyond Yhwach. All it had taken to steal from their emperor, from their god, had been their souls, their friendship.

Giselle stared blankly, awaiting the moment where she expected Bambietta to activate blut vene, yet it never came. Bambietta had already verbalized the trust she was willing to grant Giselle, but actions spoke far louder than words. Accepting the faith placed in her, Giselle opened the Ginto capsule and allowed its liquid reishi to pour into her free hand. She clasped both her hands together then, the healing solution covering them both. Then did Giselle place the palms of her hands against Bambietta's shoulder blades.

Bambietta grimaced at the slightest touch, feeling the liquid beginning to absorb into her damaged flesh. It intensified for a moment as Giselle gently ran her hands across the quincy's back, covering it completely. Much to Giselle's surprise was when her leader's skin became awash with a green light, the glow very nearly spiraling out between her fingers. Giselle continued to apply the spell cast liquid, all the while watching on as Bambietta's flesh began to mend itself together again, appearing good as new.

The pain no longer present, Bambietta gasped slightly as the tingling sensation of the healing faded as well. "Thank you, Gigi."

"It's the least-" Giselle stopped, for a moment at a loss for words. "It's what I should have done in the first place."

"Just... just stop, all right?" Bambietta did not know what else she could say. Her face sullen, she stood up then, grabbing hold of her suitcase and turning to face Giselle and the others with the broadest, fakest smile she could muster. "Well, girls or not, it'd hardly be decent for me to hang around half naked in front of you all, so if you don't mind I'm going to go freshen up!"

Then Bambietta was gone, stepping into another room with hirenkyaku and shutting the door behind her, leaving those who had once been under her care to their own devices. Giselle glanced around sheepishly then. Liltotto was looking away, not appearing interested. Meninas was simply nervous, sparing the occasional shy look before her eyes would dart away. Then there was Candice, her narrowed eyes staring at Giselle without even a pause to blink.

"You're like a bad penny, you know that?" Candice hissed as she began to move closer to Giselle. "Why the hell did you have to come back, bitch?"

Giselle scampered away, stopping only when her back hit the wall behind her. Bambietta was a wildcard, she always had been, and while she and Candice had similar personality traits, there was but one major difference: Bambietta could be nice if she felt the need but Giselle could not recall a time when Candice had been kind to her in the least.

"You know, I don't care why you're back here," Candice said as she suddenly slammed a fist into the wall beside Giselle's head. She leaned in close then, their faces very nearly touching. Candice bared her teeth then, grinning wildly. "I'm just glad you showed up here in Karakura Town. Because I've been thinking it over and I kind of know one way to get rid of a bad penny for good. An arrow right between those eyes of yours."

"Candi!"

Candice turned to look over her shoulder, a bemused expression on her face as she stared at the clearly pleading Meninas.

"That's enough, okay?"

"You talk like you're in charge of me," Candice shot back. "I'm the leader of our little group despite what that idiot of a man thinks, so what I say goes! And this bitch has got to go, you hear?"

"You're in charge?" Liltotto asked, glancing at Candice with disbelieving eyes. "Oh, that's rich."

"Yeah, Bambi's back! Bambi's back!"

Candice shook her head at Meninas' childish outburst then turned back towards Giselle. "Is that your game? Touch up your corpse doll, apply some makeup to hide what you did, and now you think you'll run the show through... through Zombietta?"

Giselle cringed slightly. "Don't... don't say that..."

"Listen and listen well, bitch!" Candice all but snarled. "This is my team now thanks to what you did! So you and your little plaything can go to hell for all I care, you got me? I'll be glad to send you there myself if I have to!"

* * *

Bambietta stood dressed once more in her quincy garb, all the while fastening her mantle and cloak around her shoulders. She was feeling better now that the healing spell had taken affect, her back no longer inscribed with pain. Still she was having other issues. Bambietta leaned over slightly, her hands grasping the edges of the bathroom sink. She stared at her reflection in the mirror then, noting things she wished she was not seeing.

The chipper expression she had worn before those she had once considered friends was nothing more than a lie, a fabrication born in the instant and based on the memory of someone who had perished in the Soul Society. Live, die, repeat. She had been reborn there, jaded and traumatized. Still she was uninterested in allowing the world to break her. It just would not do. As far as Bambietta was concerned, it should have been the world that changed to suit the individual, not the other way around.

However she could not deny the scars of time. She had not slept well since her rebirth and she had pushed herself to the brink of exhaustion since beginning her search for Giselle. The day to day affairs, the battle with the Hollows, that should have been nothing to her. Having forced herself to use blut vene as significantly as she had, however, that had been a fool's game born out of inherent distrust.

"I was going to kill her," Bambietta whispered as she stared long and hard at her reflection, glaring at the circles under her eyes. "I was going to kill each and every one of them for what they did to me. It would have been so much easier. Vengeance achieved... humanity lost."

That was what Bambietta felt was a mistake she was falling into again. Giselle's adoration. Candice's egging her on. Meninas' flighty nature. Liltotto's sarcastic barbs and general indifference. It was all coming back to Bambietta, the friendship and camaraderie that had burned brightly within the shadows of the Wandenreich. She had missed it, craved for it to return. Was that why she had allowed herself to keep Giselle at arm's length in a search for those they had lost? Was that why she had abandoned her original objectives?

"I'm treating these people... like people again."

Bambietta's vision wavered for a moment, her own cast reflection becoming joined by the faces of so many others, as if those she had called her friends were staring down at her. She could hear her own voice then, wailing weakly in her own thoughts. Begging for mercy, for salvation. Yet the expressions never changed. Condemnation and pity, cruelty and indifference, that was all they projected.

One had taken her life that day, the others simply watching on. Bambietta's vision faded, leaving herself to stare at only her own face in the mirror, but the damage was already done. Her fingers began to tighten around the sides of the sink, her body quivering. Anger and frustration, misery and despair, they were at her side. She was among the living once again, yes, but Bambietta was left to consider what kind of broken soul had been granted a second chance?

Hers was a soul that destroyed others, she knew that much now. Yet, when push came to shove, she was no better than she had been before. She was worse. Killing hollows had been so easy during her time in the Wandenreich. She was bad, they were worse. She killed them, thinking nothing of it. Now however she knew the truth, all thanks to the words of one of her parents' killers. Her powers did not simply kill the flesh, but the spirit as well.

She had fought against the basic urge to allow that to ever happen again but to save both her own life and that of Giselle's, Bambietta had sacrificed numerous souls, all bound to an adjuchas, into infinite darkness. Self-preservation had made her more cruel than the simple Stern Ritter who had killed for fun.

Then she had witnessed her old teammates killing more hollows, unaware of what their powers were truly capable of. Bambietta knew that discussion would have to be broached soon, but she wondered how seriously even she could take it. A self-professed killer lecturing others of matter pertaining to morality? It seemed like nothing more than idle foolishness born out of the spirit of a hypocrite.

"Listen and listen well, bitch! This is my team now thanks to what you did! So you and your little plaything can go to hell for all I care, you got me? I'll be glad to send you there myself if I have to!"

Bambietta turned then, instinct overriding her inner feelings and she pushed open the door of the bathroom in a hurry, stepping back out into the main room of the upstairs. She could see it then, Candice pressing a spirit weapon, a dagger, against Giselle's forehead, an pale glow at its tip at the ready. The green haired woman was clearly fuming but her arms were steady, the kill shot primed. Giselle was shaking but Bambietta could see an odd glint of satisfaction in her eyes. Then there were Meninas and Liltotto, the two of them visibly concerned, though only the former was begging Candice to stop.

"Candice Catnipp!" Rare was it Bambietta used a full first name, let alone the last name in conjunction with it, but she knew the power such names would hold. Sometimes being less of a friend and more of a demanding mother had been part of the role she felt she had over the ladies she had befriended so long ago. "Back off! Now!"

"Isn't that sweet?" Candice asked, sparing Bambietta one glance before turning her attentions back on Giselle. "Your living dead girl is sticking up for you! She must love you to freaking bits, huh? Is that what you put in her head? Well let me put something in yours!"

Time seemed to slow for the entirety of the room's occupants. Giselle watched as the hellish glow of the weapon illuminated Candice' face, the power threatening to overwhelm her eyes. Giselle closed them both then, content with what was to come. It was clear to her now, more than ever, that nothing could be as it was. Her actions had seen to that.

Bambietta could see it as well, the blast on the verge of releasing. She in turn formed her own spirit weapon, taking careful aim with her own sword. For a moment she thought it over, how not that long ago she had been envisioning doing to Giselle what Candice was about to. Envisioning how she had intended to take aim at Candice just as she was now. She kept her eyes beading on the center of Candice's being, lighting up her sword with, only then shifting her aim slightly.

An arrow of light flew from the sword then, piercing through the edge of Candice's long hair. A few strands of the lime colored locks fell to the floor then and there. Candice's eyes went wide at the realization of what had just occurred. Her weapon faded away into reishi and she quickly moved her attentions away from Giselle to her own hair. Then she glared at Bambietta.

"Bitch, you shot my hair!"

Candice began to move towards Bambietta, blut arterie activating across the flesh of the enraged woman almost as if on instinct. Bambietta welcomed it, a cocky grin spreading upon her face. Despite what had just happened, she was getting another taste of old times. She and Candice had fought it out many times in the past, though on the friendliest of terms. It was a rivalry, one born out of Candice's desire to be in charge, but it had never quite damaged their friendship in the long term. Bambietta had yet to lose to her in any particular fight, so she was not in the least concerned now. If nothing else, she was simply happy to have the attention shifted away from Giselle for the moment.

Bambietta began to roll up one of her sleeves, showcasing the power of blut arterie across her forearm. "Prepare to be pummeled cheerfully, jauntily, and utterly one-sidedly, Candi Ass!"

Meninas watched as the two quincy were very nearly upon one and another. She whimpered slightly, unable to process that they were about to fight again. She had hoped things would be different this time but clearly that was not going to be the case. She ran forward then, allowing blut vene to spread out across every fiber of her being, the skin hardening in preparation for the physical trauma that was about to unfold.

Candice threw her left arm forward, her fist empowered. "Bambi!"

Bambietta did the same as she leapt forward, her knuckles on a crash course towards her foe. "Candi!"

Meninas, meanwhile, was simply leaping into the fray. "Both of you, sto-"

The pink haired young lady's plea was cut short, the fists of her friends catching her in the face from both sides. She stood there then, blut vene having absorbed most of the impact. Still, the expression that formed on her face was one that did nothing to hide the fact that she had very nearly been knocked out. She began to fall to the floor, leaving Bambietta and Candice to watch in shock. They both spoke in unison then, moving down towards their stunned friend.

"Meni!"

Giselle watched on, not saying a word. She simply brought her hands up towards her face, her long sleeves bunched together. Liltotto kept an eye on the situation from the corner of her eyes, trying to fight off the urge to roll them, let alone sigh. It was the same as always. Bambietta and Candice would find some issue to get all hot-blooded about and a fight would be on the verge of ensuing. Then Meninas, ever the sacrificial lamb of a peacemaker, would step in and take a hit that would bring the two rivals back to their senses.

"Morons." However, despite her condemnation, Liltotto did have to wonder one simple thing. She was always the calm and quiet one, staying out of the others way, intelligent enough to know to pick her moments and manipulate things to her advantage when necessary. Still, she was never quite sure if Meninas was truly the fool or simply playing the part to keep her own grip on the relationships around them.

Liltotto shrugged then, thinking it over. Bambietta feeling she was the boss. Candice always vying for the position. Meninas potentially controlling circumstances through well-meaning innocence. Herself playing games with precision and perfectly chosen words when it suited her. The only one Liltotto could see never trying to have any measure of control over the group was Giselle herself.

Save for one time; the one that had caused so much grief for them all.

"Oh, your majesty, I don't want to ride the rollercoaster any more..." Meninas was quite dazed by the dual blut arterie attacks she had just taken, yet she was still bouncing back enough to see both Bambietta and Candice looking down at her in worry. Meninas spoke again, her voice trailing off slightly. "Hey, Bambi's back... Yay."

Bambietta could not help herself then. She closed her eyes for a moment and brought a closed hand up to cover her mouth as she chuckled slightly. "Meni, you'll never change."

"So, what, you're you again?" Candice asked, turning her gaze back towards Bambietta. "You were in pretty rough shape when we found you but I figured there was no coming back," Candice motioned her head towards Giselle, who glanced away in response, "from what that piece of shit did to you."

Bambietta glanced over Candice's shoulder, seeing the morose visage that was Giselle's own now. She was about to say something, anything, to try and make Giselle feel at ease but she did not get the chance. The young woman simply moved towards the door and exited the room without a word spoken. Bambietta began to stand up then when she felt Candice's hand grip down on her arm.

"So you're you," the green haired Quincy began to say. "You're really back from the dead. Then why the hell are you being all friendly with your killer?"

Bambietta glared back towards Candice. She already had heard it straight from Giselle's mouth and she had her opinion on Meninas' involvement, that the woman was probably not entirely aware of what had actually occurred. Yet it was Candice and to a lesser extent Liltotto she had taken issue with. "That's a good question. Why am I playing nice with you?"

"What?" Candice suddenly felt Bambietta pull her arm free but she only reached out now for the woman's collar, looking her in the eyes. "I wasn't the one to tear your heart right out of your chest! I wasn't the one who turned you into that damn zombie!"

"But you could have stopped it," Bambietta replied, her eyes narrow and focused. "Was becoming the leader really that important to you? Was it?"

"What?" Candice's temper flared then, a match for Bambietta's own when it got going. "We were trying to save you from Yh-"

"I know, I know, I know!" Bambietta rasped as she stood up and headed for the door. She opened it then, casting one last glance at Candice, Meninas and Liltotto. "I heard it all from Gigi already! I already know what the hell you were trying to do! And that's..."

Bambietta's tone began to dim then, her irritated expression falling into disarray.

"That's what makes this all so damn hard."

Bambietta stepped out of the room then, closing the door behind her. Not with the loud slam that those who knew her expected but rather a simple and quiet motion. Candice began to stand then, completely at a loss for words. Meninas was no different, her eyes watering slightly. It was only Liltotto who gave voice to their shared thoughts.

"We're a bunch of idiots."

* * *

Bambietta stepped outside of the building of Don Kanonji's, glancing around frantically for Giselle. The dark haired quincy was nowhere to be found, leaving Bambietta concerned. "Giselle, you didn't..."

The shadows were all around her, the moon casting enough light to have given Giselle plenty of escape options back to the solitude of the abandoned Wandenreich fortress. Bambietta prepared to open a portal herself, to go find Giselle once more, but first she stared up at the moon, very nearly determined to curse it out. She knew it would do no good to throw any amount of vitriol at an inanimate object but she was cranky and therefore not in any state of mind to consider what was a wasted action or not.

However, it proved to be far from a wasted action. Before Bambietta could even speak a word she saw Giselle. The young woman's silhouette was caught in the reflected light of the moon itself, standing still in midair. Bambietta knew it well enough, that the quincy had no doubt compressed the reishi around her into an invisible platform beneath her feet. It was a feat common to beings who possessed both spiritual awareness and the mental dexterity to put it to good use. However, beings such as shinigami and hollows were invisible to the naked eye, no different than the makeshift platforms they would be standing on. A quincy was flesh and blood, clearly visible to all around him or her. Bambietta could only count on good fortunate that Giselle had chosen to take such a brash action during the middle of the night, though she had to hope that she was the only one in the immediate vicinity that had chosen to look up at the moon just now.

"Who am I to judge anyone for acting brash?" Bambietta shook her head and then began to walk forward. She condensed the reishi in front of her before her right foot had the chance to touch back down on the ground. It planted itself firmly on an invisible platform then, allowing Bambietta to hover a several inches above the pavement. She stepped forward again then, another platform allowing her left foot to ascend higher. On and on it went, the quincy moving upwards upon an immaterial spiral staircase of her own making. It did not take long and soon she was right by Giselle's side, nearly one hundred feet into the air, clearing the low buildings of Karakura Town.

"Gigi," Bambietta said as she placed a hand on the Quincy's shoulder, "it's going to be fine."

"No, it's not." Giselle said nothing else then, allowing the silence to permeate the small amount of distance between herself and Bambietta. However, after a full minute's worth of the quiet, she found the strength to speak again, a lump forming in her throat. "I really wish you had killed me, Bambi."

Bambietta hesitated for a moment, something she knew would not do in such a situation as this, but still it happened. ""Don't you talk like that-"

"You should have. Then you'd have gotten what you deserved and I... I wouldn't have to live with any of this. At first I felt such joy when you spared me, when you said we'd find our friends again. But... nothing can ever be the same because of me! This... isn't something you can come back from, I get that now!"

Giselle's voice cracked then, the Quincy wrapping her arms across her torso as she shook slightly.

"I see and hear it again and again, every time I close my eyes! Your terrified face, your voice screaming for mercy! My finger's piercing flesh, your heart in my hand! You should have killed me! You should have let Candi kill me! I don't deserve-"

"Shut up!" Bambietta all but howled, her body shaking. "I refuse... I refuse to accept that any Stern Ritter I took under my wing would be so fragile! Look your pain in the eyes and tell it to go to hell! Stand up! Be strong!"

"I can't," Giselle said softly. "I can't be strong and... I won't stand up anymore."

Bambietta saw it then, out of the corner of her eye, right through the tear forming there. Giselle was dropping out of her sight, the reishi platform beneath her having been willed away by one who desired things to come to an end. "No!"

Once more did time seem to slow for she who had once been Stern Ritter E. She looked down and could see Giselle plummeting to the streets below, her hair waving in the night air. There was serenity in her face then but Bambietta could still see it, tears at the corners of the Quincy's eyes, ones that matched her own.

Instinct took hold of Bambietta's soul and she did as what she knew she must. She allowed spiritual pressure to gather around her feet and she vanished from sight, leaving behind the platform as it dissipated. Hirenkyaku took her to Giselle in a split second leap of faith and Bambietta wrapped her arms tightly around the withdrawn quincy.

"Not like this, Gigi. You hear me?"

Bambietta knew that what she had hoped to accomplish now, to save Giselle's life, would have been much easier with the power of her vollstandig. However, she was no longer an angel. Bambietta had to wonder if she ever could have truly been considered one. Bambietta shook her head then, knowing she had more pressing issues to concern herself with. She knew she would have to do this the hard way but it was just fine by her.

She focused, concentrating on the air she was soon about to occupy. The spiritual ebb and flow of the mortal world began to coalesce then and there and soon Bambietta cringed as she felt her feet slam into the power. Yet her momentum forced her astray and she and Giselle both tumbled off the solidfied reishi and went into another free fall again. Still their momentum had been slowed and that was a step in the right direction.

"Bambi!"

"Shush, Gigi! I'm concentrating!"

Bambietta knew this would be a problem. While she had trained well under Robert Accutrone, the finer points of reishi manipulation in an environment such as the world of the living was far different from that of the actual realms of the afterlife. She was unsure of whether or not she could build a platform large enough to properly catch herself and Giselle in the short amount of time they had left but she also knew she needed to try. She focused her gaze down and forward then, tugging on the reishi in the air.

Giselle did the same, having an idea all her own. While she had initiated this fall with the intention of a death, it was meant for only one. "I won't let you die, Bambi!"

Then the two collided with yet another invisible platform, one born out of their concern for one and another. Larger than the last, it caught them without any possibility of further falling. Bambietta took the brunt of the impact, her side striking the platform in place of any part of Giselle. It was just as the brunette had wanted.

"Giselle, damn it..." Bambietta wheezed as she looked into her eyes. "I made you a stupid promise..."

Giselle said nothing, simply laying there on the spiritual platform and staring into Bambietta's eyes. "You could never have-"

"I thought we could put the band back together," Bambietta continued. "I thought everything would go back to the way it was. And I'm sorry for giving you that false hope. I'm sorry for my bravado and arrogance."

Bambietta forced herself up then, slipping her arms underneath the prone Giselle and lifting her up. The quincy leader then began to make platform after platform, allowing herself to walk back down to the ground below. She felt Giselle lean into her upper body, the young lady's head resting against her shoulder.

"It can't ever be the same," Bambietta said, her voice a low whisper. "It's going to be different. It's going to be hard. Maybe they'll never completely forgive you, maybe they will. But whatever happens, you have to forgive yourself first. The world is a cruel place... I'll be the first to admit it. But it's trying so damn hard. And we have to do the same."

"I... killed you..."

"Yes, yes you did." Bambietta flinched a slight bit, hoping that Giselle did not notice despite their close proximity. "But I'm alive now and that's all that matters."

"I see it..." Giselle whimpered, her eyes closed. "I see... you... back then... begging me not to do it... Crying..."

"And I'd be worried if you didn't feel this way," was all Bambietta could offer up then. "Yhwach made us think we were above humans, above even the gods of death, but that's all we are. People. And people hurt each other... and themselves."

"I can't face it," Giselle whimpered. "Not for another moment."

"Yes, you will."

Giselle's fingers began to grip down on Bambietta's mantle, her eyes closing tighter as she tried to look at her sins. "You're so strong, Bambi..."

Bambietta said nothing as her feet touched down on solid, visible ground. She simply stood there then, a momentary flash of a cruel face appearing before her. The quincy did not have the heart to tell Giselle the truth, to let her know that she did not even have to close her eyes to see terrible things. Strength would beget strength, even if built on a lie. At least that was what Bambietta was hoping for.

Bambietta slowly set Giselle down, smiling slightly as she saw her legs stand firm. "That's it, be the quincy that I know you are."

"Bambi! Gigi!"

The two slowly turned, taking notice of Meninas stepping out of the former fire department, Liltotto and Candice right behind her. Meninas was waving excitably, the other two more withdrawn.

"Oh, I'm so happy we're all one big happy family again!" Meninas shouted as she leapt towards Bambietta and Giselle, wrapping her arms around them so very tightly. "I missed you both so much!"

It was times like this that made Bambietta curious about just how aware Meninas was in general, let alone about what had happened between them all during the war with the Soul Society. Still she was willing to fall into the hug. She had said it well enough, that things would never be the same, but when it came to Meninas there was one small exception.

"We talked it over," Liltotto said as she moved in close, "and we've decided to give you another chance, Gigi. Isn't that right, Candi?"

Candice simply stood there quietly, her arms folded across her chest. She was unwilling or unable to look at the spectacle before her. Finally did she at last speak, her tone still as belligerent as ever. "Yes, we agreed about that, Gigi. But you better watch yourself around me. No creepy crap, you got that?"

"Y-yes," Giselle stammered, having trouble breathing due to Meninas' tight hug. "Meni, please..."

"Oh!" Meninas exclaimed as she let go. She was Stern Ritter P no longer, yet still she did not know her own natural strength. "Sorry, sorry!"

Bambietta gasped herself, trying to get air back into her lungs. "Yep, just like old times."

"As for you," Candice suddenly said as she got in Bambietta's face, "let's just make one thing clear... I'm in charge."

"Oh?" Bambietta smirked a little, knowing this was a challenge she had not faced since she and Candice had first met. "Is that a fact? I'd like to test that theory."

"Damn straight I'm the big boss around here! And as my first ruling as your boss... no killing hot guys!"

Bambietta flinched a bit, remembering the faces of all those she had killed out of simple and unfocused spite. "You're not the leader, but that... won't happen again."

"Oh yes I am!" Candice explained. "So you better deal with being under my heel! And if you don't like it, you can blow it out your ass, bitch!"

Bambietta grit her teeth a bit, then moved her face directly up against Candice's own, their eyes locking with one and another. "I've had more than enough of your sour notes, Candi. It's time for a new tune! An oldie but a goodie! You asking 'How high?' when I tell you to jump!"

Giselle, Meninas and Liltotto simply watched on as the sparks very nearly flew between the two quincy. Giselle was simply smiling from ear to ear, seeing a glimpse of her past, a sight for sore eyes, one that made her feel better about her future. Meanwhile Meninas was just worried that she'd have to take two more punches by the end of the night, while Liltotto was simply shaking her head slightly. She knew full well that Bambietta and Candice would continue to butt heads for all eternity. They were too similar for their own good. That, however, was such a source of entertainment that she did not truly mind.

Not far away was Don Kanonji, the man watching the madness from the doorway to his new home. He was unsure of what exactly had transpired between his apprentices and the two newcomers, but he knew one thing in his heart. "It looks like the Geisterjager just got a little bigger today."

* * *

Night turned to day, broken friendships having mended. Now Bambietta was beginning to awaken from her much needed slumber, finding herself resting in the room that Meninas had energetically guided her to last night.

Slowly did Bambietta's eyes open, her process of awakening almost complete. She glanced through a foggy haze at her surroundings, almost lost in the unfamiliarity of the ceiling above her. The quincy had to correct herself then, that this was her new home, at least for now. Gone was her childhood home, the Wandenreich palace or even the Tabijinohate motel.

Bambietta blinked a few times, allowing her eyesight to correct itself as she came out of her deep slumber. Her mouth began to open then, her eyes shutting as it did so, a long yawn escaping from her. Then did Bambietta's eyes flutter open again, her lips smacking together slightly as she at least was able to stifle her body's objections to awakening. She stared blankly for a moment, the back of her head buried in a pillow. The quincy's eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the less than pleasant condition of the ceiling. Flaking paint, cracks in the wood, it was far from ideal. An imperfect home for an imperfect young woman, that was how she saw it then.

The quincy forced herself to roll over then, planting the right side of her head into the pillow so that she could get comfortable once more, unwilling to start the day. Her left arm fell away from her torso then, slipping slightly over the edge of the bed Bambietta called her own now. Then did she feel her fingers land atop not thin air but a soft surface that was hidden just out of sight and over the edge of the mattress.

"The hell?" Bambietta propped herself up on one arm in her bed, peering down to see just what she had made contact with. She saw it then, a mop of long black hair, the palm of her hand resting atop it all. Bambietta scampered across the bed slightly, realizing just who it belonged to. "Gigi?"

Bambietta could see it then, the former Stern Ritter Z leaning against the bed frame, the back of her head gently resting on the side of the mattress. The woman was simply sitting on the floor and completely adrift in sleep.

"You doofus," Bambietta said as she gently rubbed Giselle's head, ruffling her hair but not awakening her. "You have your own room."

Bambietta paused then, closing her eyes and she shook her head.

"But this is a new place, huh? Some things will never change I guess."

Bambietta sat upright completely then, letting her legs dangle over the edge of the bed, right alongside Giselle. The brunette quincy glanced at her clock and could see that it was eight in the morning already, earlier than she had planned on awakening. She had never been one for early mornings, something that had irritated Jugram Haschwalth and Yhwach no doubt. However, now that she was free from their influence, Bambietta still could not sleep in as late as she hoped. Despite her night owl tendencies, she had tried hard to get an early night's sleep the previous evening. That had not worked out for her, the battle with the hollows and the reunion with her old friends, not to mention meeting the fool they worked for, had put an end to that.

Bambietta felt it coming over her again and she raised her arms up over her head, clasping down on her left elbow with her right hand as another yawn echoed out from her mouth. Her arms at last dropping down to her sides again, Bambietta slid off the bed and on to her feet. She glanced down at the sleeping Giselle again and sighed. She crouched down then, slipping her arms behind Giselle's back and underneath her legs, gently lifting the young lady up. Bambietta lowered her into the bed then, allowing Giselle's head to rest on the pillow. As Bambietta began to bring a blanket up across Giselle's lithe frame, she glanced at the quincy's slumbering face and could see it. The skin around her eyes was red, light reflecting off the dried tears that were around the corners.

Bambietta reached out with a hand in response to that sight. Lightly did she caress Giselle's porcelain skin, allowing the few dried tears to brush against her fingertips. Bambietta wiped them away then, leaving Giselle's face free from the remains of last night's sorrow. Finally did Bambietta speak then, her voice a low, comforting whisper.

"Friends forever, Gigi..."


End file.
